Lucy's different path
by TrunksLoneWarrioranimelove
Summary: Revised. Rika has found a new world, but this one is also plagued by sadness and sorrow. Can she turn this world around, with its benefits of having longer time, and by helping an innocent prevent her urge to murder? HIATUS/MAY OR MAY NOT BE CONTINUED-WAIT TILL FINISHED WITH OTHER STORIES.
1. Chapter 1 Orphanage

A young girl named Lucy sat at the window, taking in her view of the world outside that was outside her cage, the orphanage. It was nice to have some people around, but she hated this place. The adults never seemed to care about her or her needs, and the other children didn't, either.

So what point was there in trying? Lucky for her, she had two good things going for her. She had finally managed to make a friend in the orphanage. A nice girl named Hanako, who decided to become her best friend had randomly appeared in order to save her from the bullies. She even stopped the bullies from picking on her, which made them madder.

All these children didn't have a home anymore, and so they lived with her. They hated themselves for being so unfortunate, and as a result, they took their frustrations out on others, like Lucy. Lucy just happened to be slightly different, and as such was picked on.

* * *

_"Lucy's world will be filled with tragedy. Her dearest friend will be killed, and her best friend will betray her. As a result, her world will drift farther and farther into darkness. Then she will meet a boy who will change her life forever. But, because of one little lie, she will murder her friend's father and sister._

_The cycle of darkness and despair will continue on. Eventually, she will meet an unfitting end. But, is there a way to end it all?" _

"That's what this shard contains, Rika." The girl finished, handing a gold shard to a dark-haired girl, who studied it.

* * *

To tell the truth, these girls didn't seem that old. They only looked to be around ten or eleven. The girl who held the shard in her hands was a most unusual child. Her blue hair fell in her face as she watched the unfortunate girl pet her puppy, unaware of the tragic fate in store for it.

She could relate with Lucy. Her name was Rika Furude. She'd seen her share of sorrow, gore, and death. She wished she could end all the violence that was in her world, but each time she even tried, it never worked out. It was thanks to the girl next to her that she could keep on living. Her ultimate goal was to find a way to break through the endless hell she went through.

But, she found it to be a foolish goal, because the constant disappointments wore away at her spirits and crushed her hope. However, the last few worlds made her wings thump against the interiors of her cage. She knew she must break free.

The lavender-haired girl with black horns sighed. "Rika, I think we might have more time in this world if we go to it."

Hanyuu was a goddess, with long flowing lavender hair, and lavender eyes. She also had horns like Lucy, only they were black. "Hauu...Satoko, Rena, Mion, Shion, and Satoshi will all be with you. Me too." For a long time, she had been invisible to everyone else, save for Rika. Rika could see her and speak to her.

"Then, what are we waiting for?" Rika insisted, picking up the shard and closing her eyes.

"Let's go."

Hanyuu nodded, and then there was a bright flash, and the two were gone.

* * *

Lucy frowned as she got out of bed. _Another day of bitter humilation awaits me. Why even bother getting up?_

She summoned a poker face, and went downstairs, noticing that the kids were already staring at her and made her way over to where her best friend Hanako was waiting for her. "Where's the goon squad?" She asked, referring to a certain idiotic blue-haired boy and his friends.

Hanako shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe they've found someone else to pick on." The brunette remarked hopefully.

Lucy smiled falsely. "I hope so..."

Then, as she continued to eat, she saw Tomo approach her.

"Morning, freak." He smirked slightly.

"Hey, thanks for the cereal you poured in my bag last night. It goes well with the backpack. It's all part of a balanced breakfast." Lucy said sarcastically.

"Don't get uppity with us." He warned.

She noticed the dark-haired boy look her way, and he approached again.

"Do you have anything better to do than to pick on innocent girls who can't fight back?" Train growled softly.

Tomo ran again, humiliated twice.

"Are you all right?" He asked.

Lucy nodded mutely.

"My name is Train. What's yours?"

"I'm Lucy." She said.

The blond girl approached as well. "I'm Eve."

"How long are you staying?" Lucy asked.

"Not very long. We'll be leaving soon." Train replied, folding his arms behind his head.

Lucy felt her heart jump down her throat. The first person to stand up for her was leaving?

Later on, Lucy looked around for Hanako, but couldn't find her. That girl had a bad habit of disappearing when she was most needed. She went outside to where her puppy was, and was surprised to see a group of children talking to the orphanage director.

_New guests? Oh, great. Just what I need. More kids to pick on me. _


	2. Chapter 2 Furude Rika

I don't own either show.

Chapter 2

* * *

She hurried toward the spot where her puppy was, but before doing so, glanced around cautiously. Instantly, the dog bounded toward her, yipping happily as it leapt into her arms.

"Shhh..." She whispered, quieting the dog. The puppy just whined. "No one must find out about you...I wish I could keep you. But, that would be too risky."

As if in response, the dog barked, and licked her cheek. She smiled, then wondered whether she could tell Hanako about the dog. Suddenly a feeling of nausea swept over her. She felt that something bad would happen if she told Hanako about the dog.

But Hanako seemed like a nice person, so Lucy thought she could be trusted with the secret. She wasn't like the others. Though it was a little odd that Hanako hadn't approached her until a few days ago. Maybe she had been too afraid to approach. That might be true.

Some children might be too scared to help her. They were terrified that Tomo might turn on them. She thought that was rather selfish of them. But many orphans had lost everything and as such tended to care about themselves more than anyone else. She hated that. She just wished that they could be a little more kind and considerate about other people.

The only reason Tomo and his friends picked on her was because she had something that they didn't: happiness. She had friends and a dog. They were jealous, and wanted to pick and tear at that happiness just like they had done to every other kid in the orphanage. Just like they did to that girl with blond hair a few hours ago.

She quietly hid her dog and walked back up the stairs to her bedroom. All the while wondering about who the children were who had shown up at the door...she hadn't gotten a good glance at them, but she wondered exactly who they were and what their intentions were.

* * *

Rika looked at the woman who was in front of them. She seemed pretty forgettable, with brown hair that was tied back in a bun and blue eyes, and her face seemed to be filled with nervousness.

"What can I do for you children?" She said tightly. "We always _love_ new guests. What are your names?" She said, putting an emphasis on the word love.

"I'm Furude Rika." Rika said, putting on her childish demeanor. The last thing she wanted was for adults to be aware of her true nature. They wouldn't treat her like a person, then. They would treat her like a god, which was what she hated, especially considering how her best friend was treated.

"I'm Furude Hanyuu." Hanyuu uttered, looking down at the ground again.

The woman studied Hanyuu, then backed away. "No...you have _those_, too?"

Hanyuu looked at her in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

At this, the woman shook her head. "No. It's nothing."

Satoko nudged her older brother, who stiffened at the sight of a stranger. "I'm Satoko, and this is my older brother, Satoshi!" She chirped, laughing.

The woman seemed to lighten up a little. "That's good to know. And you three...I assume you two are related?" She asked, pointing at Mion and Shion, who both nodded.

"We're twins." Both greenettes said.

"I'm Rena!" Rena said cheerily.

The woman opened the door a little more, then said, "Okay, come on in. I'll have Kataru handle your belongings and escort you to your bedrooms."

The seven of them followed the woman, all feeling slightly relieved, but also nervous.

"Rika, how could she see my horns?" Hanyuu whispered.

"I don't know. Usually, no one does." Rika remarked.

"Well, Rena still thinks you're cute, horns or no horns! OMOCHIKAERI!" Rena shrieked, grabbing Hanyuu by the waist, but Mion tapped her on the shoulder.

"Calm down, Rena." She whispered sternly.

Rena pouted.

The woman disappeared down a hallway. A man appeared shortly afterward. He looked quite intimidating. "Are you the new kids?" He growled. Clearly, he wasn't pleased about the entire situation, either.

Rena nodded. "Yep!"

The man eyed Hanyuu, and then glared. "More of you freaks? Great..."

Hanyuu flinched, and she looked like she was going to cry.

"How dare you speak to her like that." Rika said ominously.

"Kid, you shouldn't mouth off to adults." The man said coolly.

Hanyuu's eyes flashed red at that point. "You..."

At that instant, the man fell unconscious.

Rika stared. "Hanyuu, did you just...?"

Hanyuu nodded firmly. "Yes, I couldn't put up with him any longer."

* * *

Eventually, a new adult took over for the man who was out cold, and they were led to their rooms. When Rika and Hanyuu entered theirs, they saw a girl with pink hair and red eyes staring out the window, looking forlorn.

"Hello! I'm Hanyuu!" Hanyuu chirped, which caused the girl to turn around and stare at them coldly.

"Who are you?" She asked, and Hanyuu noticed she had something like ears or...horns on her head..

"I'm Furude Hanyuu." She said, not noticing the other girl gasp upon seeing her.

"Why do you have horns...like me?" She asked in disbelief.

"Hauu...never mind. What horns? All I see is you." She said.

The girl blushed slightly. "_Really?"_

"Yes." Hanyuu said.

"I'm Lucy." Lucy said, smiling a little.

"I'm Furude Rika." Rika said, smiling too.

The three girls started talking a little, but they didn't notice Hanako standing near the door with a look of interest on her face.

_So...she has a dog, huh?_


	3. Chapter 3 Guise

**Chapter 3 Guise**

* * *

Hanako's grin grew wider as she crept away from the door where the other two new kids were already talking to her friend. Apparently, they had taken _quite_ a liking to her freak of a friend. Hanako had just found a juicy bit of information to share with Tomoo and his gang. Apparently, the little brat had decided to feed a little dog.

Despite the fact that she had chased off Tomo and his bullies in order to stop them from picking on Lucy, it was all an act. She had been told by Tomo and his buddies to assist them in making Lucy's life miserable in any way she could. Hanako had agreed to do it-it wasn't like she actually _liked_ the girl.

No, she _despised_ her. She was too smart for her age, as well. The other day, when she'd been washing her bag off for her, she'd said something really disturbing. No girl her age was supposed to be that way. It just unnerved Hanako a lot. Though she had to admit, being her _"friend" _had its advantages.

If there was one thing that she really enjoyed about this business, it was that she completely was taken in by her acting and would tell her..._anything. _She decided it was time to go talk to Tomoo and plan their next course of action.

Quietly, she slipped out and went down to the boys' section of the orphanage and knocked on his room number, which was room number nine. Someone shuffled from behind the door. "What's the password?" A male voice asked.

"Horned freak." She said, and the door opened to admit her form in. It closed behind her, allowing the other boys to be sure that it was her.

"_Finally_, you're back, Kataru. So, what's the latest on the horned freak?" Tomo asked sadistically.

"She has a dog. I overheard her telling her new friends about it. Apparently, she not only has friends, she now has a dog that she's taking care of." Hanako explained.

"Where _is _this dog?" Tomo asked, aware of the fact that this dog could become aggressive and attack him if he didn't know how old it was. Plus, it could also become something very useful as a tool in order to get her to actually show some emotion.

"It's only about two months old." Hanako informed.

"We have to make sure these friends know the truth about her. About her and her horns. She can't be allowed to have friends. That's just not fair to us, right? If she has friends, they'll undoubtedly stick up for her. _Turn them against her. _Keep on pretending to be her friend, Kataru. At least, until 48 hours from now." He grinned evilly. All of them cheered.

"Yes, I will keep on doing that." She said, a malicious grin crossing her features. _Oh, that little brat was going to get it big tim_e. The best part would be whenever she would come out and admit to betraying her trust. She could only imagine what the look on her face would be.

However, Tomo had made a fatal error because someone_ had been listening_. Rena listened outside the door. She was shocked at what she had just heard. _That other little girl...was actually using her, huh?_

_I can't believe they're going to hurt a dog just to get at that poor girl. I must find this cute dog and take it home before they do. _

Her eyes narrowed in rage. She pulled out her machete from behind her back, and eyed it. "Well, they're going to _get_ a taste of my hatchet." She whispered, giggling slightly, but stopped and quickly withdrew into the shadows of the hallway as she saw the brown-eyed traitor headed towards her.

Hanako looked around. "Huh? I thought I heard something." She looked around, but upon seeing nothing, she merely shrugged her shoulders. "Must've been my imagination."

_Oh, you are **so **going to get it, you little brat. Just wait until 48 hours from now. You will not be able to believe your eyes.._

_All of them, dead. _

She decided to leave them a little..._gift_.She reached up to her neck, and slowly unravelled the bandages that held her wound in place. She scratched it a little bit and let some maggots fall onto the paper along with some blood. She would give them the gift of her tainted blood.

_Oyashiro-sama, the shrine god, knows all about your wrongdoings. If you dare commit the offense that you are thinking about doing, you will be punished greatly. Oyashiro-sama will make sure the consequences for such an offense will be very grave. You had best heed my warning before it is too late. You will be cursed **forever,** and your children will suffer that curse as well. . _

_-An advocate of Oyashiro-sama. _

Smirking, she slipped the note under the door, and left, entirely confident that this would work out to her advantage.

* * *

The next morning, Lucy awoke to the sound of someone screaming. Her eyes darted wildly around the room, noting that it was empty. Rika and Hanyuu were nowhere in sight.

Suddenly, she saw Hanako outside her door. "Something terrible has happened!" She cried.

"What is it?" Lucy asked, thinking instantly of her puppy. "I have a problem..it's-never mind." She said, deciding not to tell her.

"It's Tomo. He's finally gotten his comeuppance." She said, pointing to where the aforementioned bully was screaming as something was crawling onto his neck. "Ugh... Who put_ this _maggot on me! It's utterly disgusting!"

"Don't worry, Tomo, we'll get it off!" A boy cried, and then hit him with a book and started laughing.

"You idiot! That was_ my head_!" He said, hitting him in the jaw. "I don't know who sent me this damn letter, but I'll make sure that they regret it."

Hanako looked a little sad, Lucy noticed.

"He deserves it, you know. Don't feel sorry for him." Lucy said coldly.

"What was that, freak? I heard a little backtalk." Another crony of Tomoo said, striding up behind her, but he was slapped in the face by Rika.

"Why don't you leave her alone? She doesn't need your crap today." Rika said firmly.

"As if a mere girl can tell us what to do." He retorted.

"You will sincerely regret it if you lay a hand on me. I am revered as a god where I come from-so if you hurt me at any time, I will contact them. They might even possibly torture you in their underground chamber." Rika said darkly.

The other boy fled in terror.

"Tomo, are you all right?" Hanako asked, running up to him.

Tomo looked at her. "You idiot! You really WANT to mess this up!? Don't act like you like me! God, you're even stupider than I imagined!" He exclaimed.

"I'm still worried about you!" She cried.

"Get away from me, before you utterly mess it all up!" He hissed.

"You're mean."She stuck her tongue out at him. Her eyes darted back to Lucy, who looked angry. _That's right, feel sorry for me. I just got hurt._ She ran back to Lucy's side.

Tomo got up and left, but not before flashing an ambiguous glance in Hanako's direction.

"You know, you're quite suspicious." Rika said quietly.

"What are you talking about?" Hanako said, feigning innocence.

"Why would you want to become friends with her as soon as you two met? Shouldn't that be a gradual thing?" Rika inquired.

"Of course. That's why we're friends We're like alter egos!" Hanako said, sounding very much like a character from a soap opera.

"Oh, you know what I mean, _uragirimono 1 ._" Rika hissed the word like a blade cutting through Hanako's chest.

"Don't you _talk _about her like that! Before you guys were here, she was the only one who was kind to me!" Lucy cried, stepping in front of Hanako.

"Yeah..I'm truly hurt that she said something like that...after all we've been through!" Hanako snivelled, tears coming out of her eyes.

"I can't believe you insulted my friend like that." Lucy snapped.

"You're naive, Lucy. She's only using you. To her, you're a puppet_-_ and she's the master._" _

"She's right." Rena countered, stepping in front of her. "I know what you're playing at." She whispered to Hanako, who turned pale.

"No, you wouldn't...have known,right?" Hanako said, laughing nervously.

"Oh, I will. Stay away from this girl. If you don't, I will _make sure you suffer dearly._" Rena said.

"I feel sick." Hanako whispered, and she raced off to the bathroom. _How, how did she know? We never told anyone! How the heck could she know about our plans! Did she eavesdrop on us? If so, then I must tell Tomo as soon as possible! _

She noticed a small shadow move, and she looked out the window to see a small, brown puppy come out to see Lucy.

"Ah, so there's the little puppy. Very helpless." She said evilly, imagining all the things Tomo would do to it once he found it. "This'll be perfect. I can't wait to see what happens." She said to herself.

"Enjoying the view outside?" Rena Ryuuguu hissed from behind her.

"What do you want, you brat_?" _Hanako hissed.

"This is the last time I will warn you. Stay away from Lucy. Otherwise, you will...well _let's just say...it_ won't be pleasant." Rena said, giggling slightly with a maniacal look on her face.

_That girl is insane! _

* * *

The next morning, Rika was downstairs eating with Hanyuu and Lucy sat away from them. They ate in silence.

Hanyuu looked up. "Please, why don't _you_ two make up?"

"I don't want to. Not after the way you treated _my_ friend." Lucy hissed.

"Lucy..._it has already been decided." Rika _said in a monotone voice.

"What are you talking about?" Lucy asked.

"Your fate. I was only trying to warn you of what is to come." Rika said, still in that deep tone. Then, she turned away. "I guess it was no use. This world is bound to fail, too, like all the other worlds."

_What was that all about?_

Suddenly, she turned back around and smiled. "I'm joking. I want to protect you, but the other kitty wants to play a trick on you. You are the lion who tried to help the gazelle who pretended to be wounded and then was accused of hurting the gazelle. Now that gazelle is saying you wanted to kill it. That's what's going on."

"Yeah, right. You just want to pick on me." Lucy said bitterly.

"That's not true at all!" Hanyuu said.

"Hanyuu, never mind. Forget we even had this conversation, okay?" Rika said sharply, gazing at both of them intensely.

"Okay..." Lucy said, not sure what to say. She quickly hurried away.

* * *

After yet another school day of taunting and bullying, she sighed and visited her puppy once more.

As Lucy came back inside, she noticed Hanako was gone...again. Where did she go?

"Hey, freak. You're quite rude, considering you're not human." A familiar voice said from behind her. She whirled around to find Tomoo smirking at her.

"Why don't you leave me alone for once! What is it you get out of tormenting me, you sadist?" Lucy shrieked.

"What does that mean?" Tomo asked, staring at her in confusion.

"It means you're a cruel human being who enjoys hurting people!"

"Why you-" He said and then kicked her. "I suppose I'll have to torture your friend, then." He said, holding out the puppy. "After all, none of your little friends are here to save you _this time_."

"What have you done with Hanako?" Lucy snapped.

"Maybe if you'd release your grip on me, I could tell you." He said.

"Fine." She said, but as soon as she let him go, another boy came up behind her and held her back. Hanako came back in then.

"You jerk! Hanako, come help me!" She pleaded.

"I'm afraid I won't be." Hanako said calmly. "Because,_ I'm_ the one who told them about the dog."

"What?" Lucy cried. "But, you're my friend-"

"That was all a lie, you naive little fool. To think you hone-" Suddenly, a shoe fell down from the ceiling and smacked her on the head, knocking her out.

"What?" Tomoo cried.

"This is the karma that comes to traitors." Satoko said, laughing. "Traitors who are mean to our friends."

Lucy whirled around to find herself looking at the girl with pink eyes; Hojo Satoko.

"Put the dog down, or else." Rena warned.

"What if I refuse?" Tomo asked.

"Maybe, you'll like this-" She said, placing another maggot on him, and he screamed. "Go ahead, Iggy, kick the dog."

"Sure." Iggy, the boy with black hair said, but not before Rena slammed him in the back of the head with the blunt end of her hatchet, knocking him out, too..

"I don't believe this-why?" Lucy uttered. Why did her whole world feel like it was falling apart?

Rena pulled Tomo out and said, "Come with me."

"This is your fate. You will die by my hands." She said, laughing insanely.

"You're crazy!" Tomo exclaimed.

"_Not crazy._ Just doing Oyashiro-sama's work." She said, and that was the last thing Tomo ever heard before his world saw red.


	4. Chapter 4 Betrayal

**Wow, I didn't think I would get 3 reviews for that chapter. I guess many people hated Tomo. Hanako will get her comeuppance soon, the little evil witch will not get away with what she tried to do... **

**Chapter 4 Hope**

Lucy stared, wide-eyed, at her so-called friend. She had trusted her, befriended her, and this was what she got? Betrayal? She didn't believe it. "You...did all this because of my horns?" She uttered finally, pointing to her head.

Hanako only sneered. "Yes, I did. I agreed to do it. I agreed to be your friend, and you certainly fell for it. You never suspected a thing." She said venomously.

Lucy just looked at this girl, this girl she had once thought to be a good, kind-hearted person, and was shocked. "You're the monster, you know. Pretending to like me when you actually hated me. It'd be a lot nicer if from the beginning you just came out and said it." She retorted.

Hanako gasped in mock offense. "You're the mean one, you know. I didn't do anything, those boys threatened to hurt me if I didn't tell them about the dog." She said, tears filling in her eyes.

Lucy started to feel bad for her again, but someone else cut in.

"Playing the manipulative card again, huh?" Rika remarked flatly.

Lucy then noticed how deep her voice was. It didn't really suit her that well. Maybe she was just precocious like she was.

_Or maybe she's like me..._

_**You know that's unlikely. She'll just use you and kill you. After all, she is a human. You're not. **_

_I am so a human! _

_**Oh, really? Then why do you have horns? Why do people hate you? **_

_L_Lucy writhed in her mind, and felt a weird sensation pass through her, like something was in her mind, wanting to escape.

Hanako glared at her. "If only you guys weren't here. It would have been so much fun to see her suffer."

Rika approached her. "These kinds of thoughts are what drives humans mad and pits them against each other. You are just like Takano, only full of hatred and rage. Why not see what that has done in the past?" She inquired.

Hanyuu strode up to her, her eyes red. She touched Hanako, and Hanako passed out.

Hanako looked up at them, then started to scream. "I'm sorry...I never meant to..." She sobbed, now having lost her mind. She started wandering around the floors like a dog, and barking.

Lucy said, "Why not kill her?"

Rika looked at her, her eyes full of pity and sadness. "Lucy, killing doesn't really solve anything. It only consumes you. Hanyuu just made her think like an animal, since she is inhuman. Once she becomes kind towards others, she will regain her mind." Rika said.

"What do you mean, "made"? Do you mean to say she's some kind of god?" Lucy uttered in disbelief.

Hanyuu nodded quietly. "Yes...I am a god. But not a mean one."

Lucy's jaw dropped. "Of all the people, you! I always thought it was Rika, or Rena, who was weird..." She said.

Hanyuu just blushed. Again.

A faint yip could be heard. Though it sounded muffled, somehow.

Rika's eyes narrowed. "I know who has the dog...Rena." She said.

Upon seeing Lucy's questioning glance, Rena suddenly raced back into the room, carrying the puppy and squealing. "OMOCHIKEARI! YOU ARE JUST THE CUTEST DOG!"

Lucy sighed. "You know, you're going to kill him."

Rena's eyes widened. "What? Oh, I'm sorry, inu-sama!" She said, letting the puppy go into Lucy's arms.

"What are you going to call him?" Satoko asked.

"I dunno..." Lucy said.

"Nii-Nii." Satoko suggested.

"Keiichi." Mion added.

"How about...Sato-chan." Shion suggested.

The puppy only yipped.

Meanwhile, a boy with black hair sighed. "For the last time, Kanae, I told you to give me that toy back!" He said, grabbing a toy out of his little sister's hands.

"You're mean, Onii-chan." Kanae huffed.

She was so cute when she did that. But she had tried to kick him, after all...

"I enjoy being mean to you, Kanae." He teased, causing her to cry.

"Onii-chan's being mean to me!" Kanae screeched, running over to her father.

"Kohta, you know better than to pick on your sister." Her father said.

Kohta sighed and folded his arms.

"No need to be mean to her." Yuka chirped, launching herself onto Kohta.

Kohta squirmed in embarassment at this. First of all, this was not his girlfriend, it was his own cousin! He thought she was disturbing for wanting to marry him. But he liked her a little bit. He probably adored Kanae more.

He messed around with the toy in his hands. "Um, Yuka, do you mind getting off of me!"

Yuka frowned. "No."

Kohta frowned also, and pushed the brunette away from him.

"Onii-chan, don't be mean to Yuka!" Kanae scolded.

"Kohta..." His father said, clearly becoming frustrated with how things were going. At this rate, he'd have to find something for them to do to keep them all quiet. All the passengers on the train were casting irritated glances their way.

"Can't you keep them quiet?" One woman remarked, clearly annoyed.

Kanae stuck her tongue out at her. "You'll have to make us, baasan!"

The woman scowled at her. "Teach your brat some manners."

Kohta stepped in front of his sister. "Don't insult my sister."

The woman only huffed, and got off the train without saying another word to either the children or their father.

"We're going to my house soon!" Yuka chirped happily.

"I can't wait!" Kanae said, forgetting all her previous anger.

Kohta's dad sighed. At these times, he hated being a parent.

============================================================

Satoko looked out her window in worry. Her thoughts were on the events that had transpired this morning. She knew those bullies hated Lucy, but to think they would try to hurt an innocent animal! That was incredibly low.

It also reminded her just a little bit of how she and her brother had been treated by the village. Her step-parents had held the opinion contrary to what the Sonozaki family wanted, and just because of that, they were persecuted, made fun of, and ignored. She'd been abused by her uncle and aunt, and ignored by the majority of the village.

She could relate with Lucy. The majority of the adults in the orphanage hated her, and made fun of her constantly. She heard all the students call her a freak and comment on her horns. As far as she knew, she hadn't been picked on.

Her pink orbs drifted to the door, where Satoshi was outside talking to Shion. Apparently, the two had grown closer in all the chaos that had happened a few weeks ago.

"Like I said before, Shion, I'm extremely worried about Rena." He said.

"She's fine." Shion said, sounding nonchalant as always.

Of course, that was Shion for you. She never really lost her temper, no matter what happened.

She got up, and wandered outside.

"Hi, Satoko." Satoshi remarked, seeming to relax a little.

"What's wrong, Nii-nii?" She asked.

He winced briefly. "Nothing. Listen to me, Satoko. If Rena acts weird towards you or anyone else, please tell us." He said firmly.

Satoko looked confused for a brief moment, but then she grinned. "All right! I'll do that!" She chirped, trotting off down the hall.

"Did she even hear anything I said?" Satoshi asked Shion, who just laughed.


	5. Chapter 5 Leaving

**A/N:Hello, my readers! I hope to get more reviews. I have been watching more Higurashi than Elfen Lied as of late, but there are a few things I don't like about Elfen Lied. I REALLY hate Kanae's death, and hate Yuka. Really, why did such a sweet girl have to get killed by Lucy? TT **

**Anyway, onto the chapter. **

**Chapter 5 Leaving**

"Kanae, Kohta, stop your bickering." Kohta's father said in exasperation for the fifteenth time.

Kanae said, "But, Tousan, Kohta is being mean to me!"

"You started it!" Kohta said, and for that, Kanae kicked him in the shin.

"Ow! Stop it, Kanae, that hurts!" He said in frustration.

"You deserved it." Kanae said.

Yuka just giggled. "Kohta, I want to marry you!" She exclaimed.

Kohta just blushed slightly, a little embarassed at how she had said something like that in a public place. He did like her though, she was nice and cute, but she could be a little controlling, too. Still, she was his cousin.

"Yeah." He said slightly.

Kanae then kicked Yuka in the shin, causing her to fall over. "Leave my onii-chan alone!" She exclaimed.

Yuka whined.

Kohta's father sighed again, his head in his hands. He hated this. He knew it was a bad idea to bring all _three _of them along, especially considering how competitive Yuka and Kanae were over Kohta. Things could get pretty messy when the two of them started fighting, considering Kanae was only six and Yuka was only nine years old.

He looked up at the train's sign and was relieved to see that they were finally at their stop. "Come on, you three. Let's go."

Yuka cheered. "Yay!"

Kohta smiled too, while Kanae just frowned as usual.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the orphanage

**(A/N:I don't plan to have them stay here for much longer. Some might move into's Kohta's place. XD Kohta already is quite a harem guy, huh?) **

Many of the children in the orphange sat, watching their caretakers lecture them on this and that, but their gazes were anywhere but on the blackboard. Their gaze went from the new kids, to the view outside, to the empty seat that was usually occupied, and to the new silence that seemed to have taken over their world.

That silence was good for them. Tomo was gone. No one knew where he was, but that was a good thing, because no one would have to endure his crap anymore and be tormented again.

"Hey, where's Tomo? Do you think he ran away?" A brown-haired girl asked her neighbor, who was taking notes.

The other girl paused. "I don't know. Maybe he's just sick or something."

One boy across from her smirked. "Maybe he's dead."

One of the teachers heard and said, "We have found Yarou Tomo...but he is dead. Kids, he was...chopped into pieces by someone. We don't know who did it. We will truly miss him, and we shall now hold a moment of prayer for Tomo's spirit."

Lucy frowned. She noticed Satoko sitting beside her, who looked unusually pale.

"Satoko-chan, I hope Tomo burns in hell." Lucy hissed.

Satoko snickered. "That's a horrible thing to say, though. Who could've killed him?" She asked, her fuchsia eyes full of confusion.

Lucy blinked. Somehow, she had thought about killing him...about wishing he was dead, and now he was. That was impossible.

Satoko's glance went over to Rena, who was looking out the window. Somehow, her brother seemed right. Rena was acting more strange than usual...daydreaming, and even muttering to herself at times...it scared her a little.

However, she would never admit to anyone else outside her head that she was actually scared. Her, the great Hojo Satoko, the master of traps so grand and elaborate? That was simply inconceivable. She wanted to ask Rena why she was acting weird.

Rika looked unusually solemn and serious. Those violet pools of hers were ever-changing: one second they were calm; the next, stormy. She was quite mysterious. Yes, she was. But she had never stopped being her friend, even though people had picked on her before for being the village outcasts.

Lucy sat up and walked over to Rika. "Hey, Furude-san, can I talk to you?"

Rika looked up at her. "What?"

The two of them walked outside, ignoring Hanyuu, who trailed behind them worriedly.

"How long have you been living here?" Rika asked seriously, all traces of a happy child erased from her voice. Instead, there was a mature look to them.

Lucy didn't even look her way when she answered. "All my life."

Rika and Hanyuu both looked shocked at this revelation.

"I know you're an orphan, but what about your parents?" Hanyuu asked shyly.

"I don't know if I had any, to tell you the truth. I just remember being left here in the woods for dead, and then people found me and took me in. I may have been abandoned by my parents. But this place...is hell itself. No better way to describe it. I want to leave this place. I really want to. I can't have Kei-chan live here. All the kids do is tease me and shun me, and until you guys came, I only had that faux friend, Hanako. The adults hate me, and I've seen them do the same to you, Furude-chan."

At this, Hanyuu said, "Yes. Usually no one sees my horns. I don't know if we can take you with us, Lucy. We only have a limited time."

"What do you mean by limited time?" Lucy asked.

"Shion has a part time job. I heard from Mion that she will be returning to Okinomiya shortly. Mion, I mean. Satoshi's going to stick around here with Shion, and Satoko will, too." Rika said.

"What about you two?" Lucy asked.

"We don't have a place to stay. But we'll find one...though it will only be temporary." Hanyuu said quietly.

"Please take me with you." Lucy said earnestly.

"We'll see what we can do. First, we can try to convince the adults that someone might want to adopt you. Mion could do that. She is the head of an influential family, after all..." Rika trailed off.

"And Rena...where is she?" Hanyuu asked.

* * *

Kanae sobbed tearfully as she and Kohta walked down a boulevard.

"I can't believe I dropped it! My ball! Tousan bought it for me!" Kanae sobbed.

Kohta patted her shoulder. "It's okay."

A girl with brilliant blue eyes and brown hair happened to notice a shiny red ball, and her eyes lit up.

"Hey, this is such a cute ball! I'm going to take it with me! I wonder if someone lost it, though?" She said, a thoughtful expression on her face.

She noticed a young boy and a girl come walking by, but the girl seemed rather sad.

"Hey...is this ball yours?"

Kanae whipped her head up to see her ball! But someone else was holding it. A girl with brown hair who was very cute.

"Yes! Thank you!" She exclaimed, grabbing the ball and hugging it close to her.

The girl's eyes lit up. "HAUU! YOU ARE SO CUTE, JUST LIKE HANYUU-CHAN! OMOCHIKAERI!"

Before Kanae knew what was going on, Rena had scooped her up in her arms and sped off down the street.

Kohta stared, dumbfounded. "Hey, bring my sister back!"

**A/N:Poor Kanae, always being attacked in some way or another... **


	6. Chapter 6 Dividing Paths

**A/N:Here is the next chapter! I think after this chapter, it will be decided as to what I want to do with the Higurashi gang. I will have Lucy stay with Kohta! (No, I won't make his father have ALL of them. That will be hell.) But Mayu, Nana, and the others will show up sooner or later. I don't think I will have Rika die just yet. **

**Chapter 6 Dividing Paths**

Rena ran and ran, holding Kanae tightly in her arms. "HAUU! STOP STRUGGLING! THAT'S SO ANNOYING!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Put me down, oneechan! Kidnapper!" Kanae screeched, trying to squirm her way out of Rena's grasp, but that didn't work.

"A kidnapper, am I? Well, what would I need to make myself into that?" Rena said darkly, her eyes now slitted like a cats. "Well, maybe I could bring you in Oyashiro-sama's favor!"

Kanae started shaking. "You're scaring me, oneesan. Please, let me go. Please." She pleaded, her purple eyes welling up with tears.

Rena was about to answer, but she was stopped by Satoko.

"Becoming a kidnapper now, huh?" She giggled.

When Rena whirled around to face her, Satoko froze. Her eyes were not kind and friendly. Instead, they were rather cold and demonic.

"What does it matter to you?" She said coldly.

Satoko stared at her for a second, then threw a shoe right at her face, which caught Rena off guard. She wasn't expecting it, so the shoe hit her on the head, knocking her unconscious. Rena fell down, and Kanae scampered out of her arms.

"Thank you for saving me! I am Kanae! What is your name?" Kanae said excitedly.

Satoko laughed. "Me? I am the great master of all traps, Hojo Satoko-chama! I can teach you how to play tricks on people."

Kanae giggled. "You're joking. I like you. Do you want to be friends? My onii-chan should be here soon." She said, her eyes darting down to the road.

Sure enough, an exhausted Kohta was running down the road, trying to locate his missing sister. Then, he spotted her, with an unfamiliar girl. The other girl seemed to be around his age, with blond hair and...fuchsia eyes? That was unusual.

"Kanae, I'm so glad you're all right!" Kohta said, running up to his little sister, who jumped in surprise.

"Oniichan, you're stupid! You let the kidnapper take me away!" Kanae said, sticking her tongue out at her older brother.

Suddenly, Satoko took her bow off of her head mischievously.

"Hey, give that back! Tousan gave it to me!" Kanae shrieked, darting at Satoko in anger.

"You'll have to chase me for it!" Satoko said, dancing around like a monkey, and dodging Kanae's every move, until she finally managed to tackle Satoko to the ground.

"Gimme!" She said, and wrenched her bow away from Satoko's grip and put it on, albeit messily.

Kohta only sweatdropped. "Who are you?" He asked Satoko.

"Hojo Satoko. I'm new here." She said, grinning cheekily at him.

Kohta flushed a little. She was kind of cute. But she seemed rather...rambunctious and playful. A lot like Kanae. It was good that she had made some new friends, since she didn't really have many friends in school (due to her bratty nature, of course.) He didn't dare voice that opinion aloud, though.

His father scolded him whenever he tried to pick on Kanae, so he decided to keep his mouth shut. "I'm Kohta." He said briefly.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Rena Ryuuguu." Rena said, getting back up on her feet. She glared at Satoko, who just smirked at her in victory.

* * *

Satoko was always needy, but she was better the way she was now. Since her nii-nii was back, she had become a more cheerful person. But Rena knew she hid most of her pain behind that mischeivous smile of hers.

Rena could relate with that. She, too, had endured her mother's divorce with her kind father. Her mother had just left her father in the dust. She could never forgive her mother for that, and so her path down darkness had begun. Or so she thought. But she had loving and devoted friends, so for the most part, her anger and pain went deep inside her.

But lately, that anger had started boiling and simmering inside of her, threatening to spill out. She struggled to keep a lid on her feelings, but it wasn't really working so far, and...

"Rena?"

Satoko was looking at her in curiosity.

"Iie, it's nothing." She said, shaking her head.

Satoko didn't seem to buy it, though.

* * *

Rika looked up at the teacher who had been droning on about crap as usual in bewilderment.

"Hojo-san and Ryuuguu-san are missing, Furude-san. Do you know where they could be?" He asked politely, but his expression showed nothing short of hatred.

_They must hate me because I'm friends with Lucy and...Hanyuu. _

She thought, a blush crossing her cheeks when she looked at Hanyuu.

"Answer me!" He yelled, whacking her arm with a piece of paper.

"I don't know, nano desu!" She said.

The teacher stopped, a little taken back by her reaction. Then he left to go pick on someone else.

"Darn." Rika muttered under her breath.

"Rika? Is something wrong?" Shion asked.

"Why don't we go find them?" Satoshi asked, nudging his friend to look at him.

Shion flushed. "Anou...maybe I could...go with you." She said, getting nervous by the way he was looking at her.

Lucy remained silent throughout all of this. She had heard or seen nothing of Hanako since that day, and she was glad. That little traitor would never be bothering her again. She decided to give the answer to the question the teacher was giving. She raised her hand.

"Yes, Mrs. Furude?"

Hanyuu flinched, then spoke. "Hau...it's eighty-six." She said.

"That is...incorrect! You little fool, with horns like that, no wonder you're stupid!" He said, whacking her desk, causing her to jump, and tears gathered in her eyes.

Lucy felt a surge of anger rise within her chest, but she held back. After all, she didn't want to be picked on, but fate just must have hated her.

"Hey, horns. Answer the damn question. What's ninety minus five?" The teacher shouted.

Giggles and snickers went around the room as most of the other students laughed upon seeing Lucy struggle to find the answer. "Eighty-five." She said.

"That...is...correct." He stuttered, not sure what to say.

Suddenly, Lucy noticed someone pull Hanyuu's horns, and she yelped. She looked like she was going to cry again, so Lucy had enough.

She pushed back her chair, and stood up. "I've had enough of this hell." She said, causing most of the people in the room to gasp at her.

"Sit down." The teacher ordered.

"You breed hatred by encouraging people to hate others. You also inflict hatred by making other people feel bad about themselves. You're not a teacher, you're a heartless monster who insists upon making all these kids feel like shit. And you kids, I've had enough of your putting me down, and taunting me. It's pathetic that you feel so depressed about yourselves, that you have to put down people like Hanyuu and I. Maybe you need psychological help." She said calmly.

Most of the kids in the room backed away from her for some reason.

"She's scary." A little girl whimpered, but shut up upon receiving a fierce glare from Rika.

"You arrogant little brat! Go to the principal this instant!" The teacher shrieked.

"I'm leaving, and I'm never coming back." She said quietly, walking out of the room.

There was dead silence in the room. Finally, the teacher threw down his chalk. "I'm fed up with this! I quit!"

Rika, Hanyuu, Satoshi, and Shion took this opportunity to sneak out a window.

Lucy was down there waiting with Kei-chan circling her ankles, yipping loudly.

"Shh." She said, pressing a finger against the excited young puppy's mouth, who nipped her playfully.

"Ouch." She said, clutching it in pain, as it bled a little.

"Hauu...you'll be fine." Hanyuu said, bandaging it.

Lucy smiled a little. "We're going to go find Hojo and Ryuuguu-san." She announced, and the others all agreed.

* * *

Kohta listened to Satoko, Kanae, and Rena talk about their friends and what they did together. He looked at Satoko, who winked at him.

Then, a voice shouted, "Satoko! Rena! There you are!" A female voice cried.

Kohta looked and saw four people waving their hands at Satoko and Rena, whose eyes lit up, and raced over to them. One was a girl with green hair. The others seemed to be around his age; a girl with purple hair and purple eyes; another had...horns? She too had lavender eyes and hair.

The last was a girl with pink-red hair and red irises.

The two of them met, and stopped.

"Who are these two?" Lucy asked Satoko, who grinned.

"That's Kanae, and this is Kohta." Satoko said.

"You have...cat ears!" Kanae exclaimed.

"Cat ears?"


	7. Chapter 7 Prelude

**A/N:animegirl1994: no Kanae, and her dad are not going to die. Kanae isn't. I'm not sure about her dad, though...just kidding. I love my dad, so I'm not going to kill her daddy off. XD **

**But, if you suggested Yuka, I might consider it. XD Anyhow, I am going to put a little bit of Nana and Mayu in this chapter. Mayu is around 15 in the canon, so seeing as this is around nine years before Nyuu shows up, she will be around six, as will Nana. **

**BTW, Satoko and Kohta might be a possible couple here, with little traces of Lucy and Kohta. **

**On to the chappie. **

**Chapter 7 Festival Night **

"Cat ears?" Lucy repeated, looking at Kanae in bewilderment. Of all things that had been said to her about her horns, this was the most wild. She'd never thought of them as cat ears, but now that Kanae mentioned it, they did resemble cat ears a little bit.

"Kanae! Don't say things like that!" The boy next to her chided.

"Onii-chan, you're stupid! I'm only stating a fact!" Kanae whined, kicking her brother in the shin again.

"Oww! Baka Kanae!" He screeched.

Satoko laughed beside him. "Kanae-chan, you might not want to hurt your older brother any more. He might get too angry." She said playfully, though with a menacing message attached.

Kanae got the hint. "Onee-san, who are you?" She asked, pointing to Lucy.

"Lucy." Lucy said coldly.

"Lucy, be more friendly." Rika scolded, her purple eyes going over to the unfamilar boy and girl. "I'm Furude Rika, and this is my cousin, Furude Hanyuu. These two are Hojo Satoshi, and Sonozaki Shion." She introduced.

The other boy smiled. "I'm Kohta, and this is Kanae. We're out of town, but we come visit here every summer. I take it you guys are out-of-towners, right?" He asked.

Everyone nodded.

"Why do you come here every summer?" Lucy asked.

"To see the festival and the fireworks with Onii-chan and Yuka-chan, who is our cousin!" Kanae exclaimed.

Rika, Hanyuu, Satoko, Rena, Satoshi, and Shion all jumped.

"Just like back home!" Rena exclaimed. "Hauu! I want to go with you!"

"You can, if you want." Kohta said politely. His gaze kept on going to the pinkette, who whispered something to Furude Rika. He was attracted to her, somehow. She seemed quite sad.

"Hey, do you live around here?" Kohta asked Lucy.

"No." She lied.

"Can we go with you to see the fireworks?" Lucy asked. "I've never...seen them before in my life."

"Well, they're like flaming flowers! That's why they're called hanabi!" Satoko explained.

"Would that require you staying with us?" Kohta asked hesitantly.

"I have nowhere else to go." Lucy admitted.

Rika and Hanyuu nodded too. "We'd appreciate it very much, Kohta."

Kohta smiled, while Kanae grinned.

"Boy, Yuka is going to be mad!" She exclaimed in joy.

"Yuka-chan being?..." Shion asked.

"My cousin. She's a girl, so she wants to go with me. I guess I'll have to explain this to her." He said, looking rather uncomfortable for some reason.

The eight friends went off, with Kei-chan tucked into Lucy's arms. He yipped.

"Is that a dog?" Kohta asked.

"Don't touch him!" Lucy said defensively, placing an arm in front of her dog. Upon seeing his hurt face, she stopped. "I'm sorry..."

"It's all right. You must be very protective of him." Kanae said observantly.

Lucy just smiled. She was enjoying this new life of hers. It was so much better than the one she'd had before. Little did she know, trials and tribulations awaited her and her friends.

Meanwhile, when they reached Kohta's cousin's house and knocked on the door, a brown-haired girl opened it. "Hello? Kohta, there you are! I've been so worried about you and Kanae-chan! Oh, who are these?"

"These are my new friends."

* * *

Meanwhile, a young girl paced back and forth in her room. She wondered where her dad was. Why wouldn't he come back? She nervously put her hands on her face, and continued reading her picture book.

_"The princess lives happily ever after with her prince. The stepmother and nasty stepsisters never bother her again." _

She closed the book when the door opened, and her mother came in, frowning at her as always. Why couldn't she look at her with love, instead of hatred? She had never done anything wrong to deserve this kind of treatment.

"Come on, child. We need to see your new daddy. I want you to behave for your first meeting with him. Ne, Mayu-chan?" She said.

Mayu flinched. "I don't want to. What if he's not like daddy?"

SLAP!

Mayu stepped back, holding her cheek, which was now red. "Mommy, doshite? Why did you hit me? That's mean!"

"You shut your mouth right now! You better not act like this in front of him!" She screeched.

Mayu trembled. "Stop treating me like this!" She protested.

Her mother started dragging her by the arm so hard that her arm was colored red.

A man stood by the door. His hair was dark, and he smiled at her. Something in his eyes was creepy, however. He seemed scary.

"Hello, Mayu-chan. I'll be your new father from now on." He said suavely.

* * *

A young girl chained to a wall endured the cruel experiments performed on her. She knew that her papa would be there by her side.

He came to her side again. "Hello, Nana."

"I'm happy to see you...papa." She said, smiling despite all the blood that was on her body.

"How did you do today?" He asked.

"Very well, papa! I learned so many interesting things!" Nana exclaimed happily.

Kakuzawa wondered how it was that this diclonius was so different from the others. She never seemed to hate anyone or anything they did to her.

"Papa?"

"Yes, Nana?"

"Someday, will you let me meet another diclonius? Like me, or number 13?" Nana asked hesitantly.

"I don't know where Number 13 is, dear. But, I'll try to find her, Nana. I promise." Kakuzawa said.

"I want to play...with Lucy." Nana said.


	8. Chapter 8 Trials

**A/N:Don't think Rika's stay in this world will be easy. No, it will be a harsh battle. BTW, when they said Kurama in Elfen Lied, doesn't it make you think of Kurama from YYH? **

**Chapter 8 Trials. **

"Papa?"

"Yes, Nana?" He said, staring at the dicloni.

"I want..to see Lucy." Nana said.

"I promise you, someday. I'll bring Lucy over and the two of you can play together." Kurama said reassuringly.

"Nana is all alone. Nana never has anybody to play with, except these big, scary men. All they do is hurt me, Papa. Papa, please, can't you protect me from them? Please, papa, don't let the men hurt me!" She begged, tears coming into her eyes.

"It's..." He found it impossible to speak to her. How could she call him Papa when he was not really her true father? How could she love him when he subjected her to all of these tests, the tests that were performed on all other dicloni, including Lucy's mother?

_I don't understand this. Why are you so different from them? Why aren't you trying to kill me? _

He wondered whether what he was doing was morally right. Was it right to keep these creatures locked up for the rest of their lives, and never let them be in contact with humans? If he never let them interact with people, how could they grow and develop? How could he expect to make them good experimental subjects if he didn't treat them like humans?

But they weren't human. Therefore, they didn't deserve to be treated like humans. But upon seeing Nana's tear-stained face, he reconsidered that notion in his mind. Was what he had believed wrong?

"Papa?"

"Just..be good, okay? You have to endure the tests. Just be a good girl, and do what's required of you, even if it hurts." He said.

"I want to go out...beyond here." Nana declared.

"Not now, Nana. Right now, you must deal with all the hardships. I'll always be by your side, as long as you do what's required of you." He said.

The pink-eyed girl smiled up at him. "Okay, papa."

This girl truly had no antipathy in her heart at all. All she felt was kindness towards everybody.

"I can't believe that freak went missing." A girl said scornfully.

"I can't believe Tomo was murdered." A boy said.

"I wonder who did it." The girl said. "I wonder what happened...to Hanako-chan. She's been missing, too."

"You want to ask? I believe it was I." A pink-haired shadow said, walking up behind them, and that was the last thing they saw, before blood splattered everywhere.

* * *

Hanako was running around in the woods on all fours. "I am a dog..." She muttered, and started barking, and tearing her clothes off. "Ruff ruff! Ruff ruff!" She yelped, and came across an old man who was picking up litter.

"What are you doing here so late? Why do you have no clothes on?" He asked in confusion.

"Ruff ruff! Ruff ruff!" Was Hanako's reply, and she started panting.

"What are you, crazy, girl? Geez, she must be out of her mind. I think I'll call the police." He said, and so Hanako was taken to a mental asylum, where she spent the rest of her days. All the while, she spent the rest of her life barking like a dog and trying to convince others of it. She would scratch her legs, refuse to wear clothes, chase after cats, and growl at people.

Most people took pity on her. Some were scared of her. "At least she seems happy." One said. No one ever believed her ranting that she was a dog, however.

Sometimes, whenever she wasn't insane, she would think lucidly and wonder why she had been spared when Tomo had not. She had loved Tomo, and then he had been killed. It was all their fault. Those stupid girls and their stupid freak of a friend had ruined everything. Her life was no longer the same. Now it was in shambles, thanks to them. If they had never come, that girl would have been so upset, seeing her dumb dog get killed.

_That damned horned girl. _She thought, images of a purple-haired girl with black horns entering her mind. But then, her mind would dim and go back to being insane. Happiness had no place in this young girl's heart. Not after all the sadness she had caused to so many people. It was simply not a given.

* * *

Yuka stared at all the girls who were behind Kohta. When had he gotten that many girls? The nine-year old's heart was beating fiercely in her chest as her mind struggled to figure out why her cousin had them as friends.

_Oh no, Kohta wants to start a harem! _

"Kohta, why do you have this many girls with you?" She said in fear, with a tinge of jealousy.

"We're just friends of his!" Shion said innocently. "Look, this is my boyfriend." She said, pointing to Satoshi.

At this, Yuka sighed in relief. "That's good. I'm Yuka, and it's nice to meet you all." She said, as politely as she could. After all, what harm could it do to be friendly? She didn't want to be openly hostile to new guests.

"I'm Shion Sonozaki, and this is Satoshi Hojo." Shion said, pointing to her blond-haired boyfriend, who waved shyly, his pink orbs downcast.

Yuka giggled. This boy seemed to be more of a shrinking violet, but he seemed to be kind enough.

"I'm Hojo Satoko. I'm Satoshi's sister." Satoko said.

Yuka noted Kanae was right next to Satoko as well. "Oh, I see you're near Kanae. Kanae, did you make a new friend?" She inquired.

"Yes, she's my friend! She's also very nice!" Kanae declared.

"I'm the master of traps!" Satoko declared happily.

Yuka sighed. "Traps?" She repeated in bewilderment.

"Yep. Get on my bad side, and heh heh." Satoko laughed maliciously, but was silenced upon recieving a baleful glare from her older brother. She seemed like a playful, yet kind girl to Yuka.

"I'm Rena Ryuuguu." A taller, brown-haired girl said, looking down at the ground shyly. She seemed like she was the more reticent, withdrawn girl. However, there was something off about her. She seemed to be concealing something, some kind of secret. Her blue orbs seemed to hold more than what one would usually see. It creeped her out slightly.

The two purple-haired girls on either side of Ryuuguu seemed to be the most unusual. Not to mention their strange hair color, and their eye color, there was also their clothes. They just didn't seem to fit in with what she normally saw people wearing around here. "I'm Furude Rika." One said, her purple eyes studying Yuka intently.

"_Who are these people?" _She thought, shivering. They didn't seem that ordinary to her. Since when did children her age possess horns?

Her gaze settled on the sole pinkette of the group. She seemed the most inhuman. Her red eyes looked at her with hatred. She stepped back. "Umm.." She began, but stopped.

"So, your name is Lucy, right?" Kohta interjected.

"Yes, that's right." Lucy said, somehow feeling very nervous around this boy. She didn't know why.

Satoko was looking on with a mixture of pride and jealousy. She smirked as she realized why Lucy was acting this way towards Kohta. "Lucy, do you like Kohta?"

Lucy flushed slightly. "No, that's not it at all!" She said, her face almost the color of her hair.

Satoko chuckled victoriously. "I guess I was right." She boasted.

"Nipah, you don't have to be shy about it." Rika said.

Upon hearing the word like, Yuka flinched. _No, someone else likes Kohta, too? _

"Can we stay with you for a little while?" Rika chirped.

The dark-haired girl was just too cute to resist, so Yuka gave in. "Sure." She said reluctantly, inwardly wondering if she was making a huge mistake. That remains to be seen. "I'll just have to ask my uncle and my parents."

Kohta's father arrived at that second. "Hello, Kohta; Kanae. Good to see you both. I heard you two were missing, but I'm glad that you came back. "

"Yes, Tousan. We also made new friends!" Kanae screeched.

Kohta's father gasped upon seeing all the children.

"Can we all stay?" Rika, Hanyuu, and Satoko asked with big pleading eyes.

"You can stay for a little while. " He said, cursing the day he was born. Why, oh, why, did he have to have more children?

"Nipah, thank you very much, Ojisan." Rika said, stepping in the house, and Hanyuu followed after her. Satoko followed, too.

Rena, Satoshi, Shion, and Lucy entered as well. Kanae, Kohta, and Yuka were the last three to come in, and then Kohta's father shut the door behind them.

"Why do you have those on your head?" He asked, referring to Lucy's horns. "Are you a fan of...catgirl shows?" He said.

"Catgirl shows?" Lucy repeated, as perplexed as everyone else was. "Those being...?"

"You know, Kanae is a fan of those shows, like Osaka Nya Nya, or something like that." Kohta's father explained.

Kanae said, "Oh, I love Osaka Nya Nya! They have such cool outfits!" She exclaimed, like a fangirl who had just heard news about a pop star.

"Omigod, I love them, too!" Yuka interjected, and the two started a long and lengthy conversation about it. "Hey, Kanae, don't you have an Osaka Nya Nya outfit?" She said.

Kanae frowned, then her eyes lit up. "Yes, I do! It's in the basement, I think! I'm going to go see if I can find it!" She exclaimed, running out of the room, her father following her.

"Now, Kanae, be careful going down those stairs. You don't want to fall and hurt yourself, do you?"

"No, tousan, don't worry about me, I'll be just fine!" Kanae's voice echoed from downstairs.

The other girls all looked at each other in amusement.

"I wonder what this outfit looks like." Shion began. "Let's hope it's not too cute, otherwise Rena will have a fit." Shion teased, pointing at the brunette, who was now starry-eyed and lurking by the stairs.

Suddenly, Kanae came upstairs in a cat outfit, at which point Rena came flying at her. "Hauu, Kanae-chan is so cute! OMOCHIKAERI!" She yelped, tackling the six-year old to the ground, and trying to pick her up.

"Don't kidnap my sister again, Ryuuguu-san!" Kohta reprimanded, trying to tug on Rena's arm so as to get his sister back.

"Oh, you are so cute. I want to take you back to Hinamizawa." She said, hugging her fondly.

"You probably shouldn't, Rena. Because then Kohta and his tousan will be very upset." Shion pointed out.

"I think so, too." Lucy added. "But what does all this have to do with my cat ears?" She said, then put her hand over her mouth.

"Lucy's sensitive about them. You mustn't provoke her so much." Rika warned.

"Oh, um, never mind then." Kohta's father said. He cast a glance at the pinkette as she walked by him. She caught his eyes and glared back venomously. He flinched. Why would such a young girl display such a look of hatred on her face? It was...inhuman. He shivered.

"Tousan, is something wrong?" Kanae asked.

"Nothing." Her father said.

It seemed that only Yuka and Kohta's father had picked up on the strange aura emanating from Lucy. Rika and Hanyuu were watching her, too. They had noticed that there seemed to be something off about Lucy lately, which worried them. Kohta, Kanae, and the others seemed to be oblivious to it.

"Are you feeling well, Lucy?" Hanyuu questioned, reaching out to touch her friend's forehead, but Lucy swiped her hand away.

"Don't touch me. I'm fine. It's nothing, really." Lucy lied.

_They're all filthy humans. You have to kill them. _

The voice in Lucy's head chanted.

She heard a bark, and noted Kanae had found Kei-chan, and was holding him in her arms and petting him affectionately, which made Kei-chan happy. Fear overtook her being. What if he would get hurt?

"Look at this cute dog!" Kanae exclaimed.

"Don't touch him! He's mine!" Lucy snapped, scooping Kei-chan out of her arms and storming off.

"Hey, I didn't mean anything by it!" Kanae protested. "I'm sorry!"

"She was abused." Satoko said. "That's why she doesn't get along well with people. So please give her time."

"It's true. Lucy has suffered a lot in her short life. So, please be gentle with her." Rika said.

"I forgot to ask, but where exactly are your parents?" Kohta's father began.


	9. Chapter 9 Mosaic Shards

**A/N:Welcome to another chapter of Rika's never-ending journey to find happiness. Will she be able to help Lucy find happiness, even with her inner demons? **

**Chapter 9 No turning back now**

He was met with silence; a sudden stillness that swept upon all the occupants of the room. It was the kind of silence that seemed to say "Don't mention things like that." Even though he didn't mean the question to be painful, Satoko still winced.

Her parents? She had never really had any _true _parents, rather she had just been forced to get different fathers over and over. Her mother had never been satisfied with any one man she found, so she would always expect to sometimes find a new man living in her house along with her mother.

They would mysteriously show up at times; she would be playing, and her mother would introduce her to a strange man who seemed nice. Most of the time, they were nice guys who played with her, complimented her, and wanted to do things with her. At other times, they could be quite nasty and mean. She remembered how one of them had struck her in the face when she had refused to go to bed. That man had seemed quite nice up until that event. After that, she had never seen him in the same manner again, and became quite afraid of incurring his wrath.

Her mother? Well, most of the time, her mother had been quite nasty towards her. When the villagers had started persecuting her parents, she remembered quite vividly how her mother and father would come home, looking haggard and worn out. They would have been covered in bruises, evidently because the villagers would resort to violence in order to mete out their ideas of "justice" and made sure they stuck.

Then, they would take their anger and frustration out on her and her Nii-nii. They hadn't done anything to deserve it, but Satoko told herself that she probably deserved it. Then, they died. She barely remembered the accident. One second, they were up front in the car, and she was in the back; the next they were gone and police cars were everywhere. She had felt relieved at that. But then, her uncle and aunt...

Satoko forced herself to stop remembering those traumatizing memories, and spoke up. "Umm...I don't have any. They died a long time ago." She said softly.

Kanae and Kohta looked at her in astonishment. "That's sad." Kanae said sympathetically. "I don't know what I'd do if Tousama wasn't around!"

Satoko smiled faintly. "Thanks for your concern. I've gotten over it, for the most part." She lied, feeling the wound in her heart get bigger.

As if reading her mind, Rika's hand found hers, and squeezed it. Rika looked at her, and smiled gently. It was her way of telling her to calm down, and that everything would be all right. "Nipah...I don't, either."

Hanyuu nodded as well. Hanyuu barely remembered her parents, since she had been living a life as an immortal for so long, time tended to blur together. She remembered her daughter, who looked a lot like Rika, who had been the one who had killed her, and made her a goddess. She wondered whether Rika was her daughter reincarnated. It was an interesting theory. _I wonder..._

The mood in the room seemed to lighten up. Everyone, save Lucy and Rena, seemed to relax a little.

"Well, are you guys hungry?" Yuka asked.

Suddenly, Shion's stomach rumbled, as did Rika's. Sooner or later, everyone else's did, too. They had been with Kanae and Kohta for so long that it seemed that it was already time for dinner. Rika's eyes trailed to the clock, which read: 5:23. She studied the clock, wondering whether it would show her how much time she had left in this world. After all, they had already been here for a good week or so. She probably wouldn't be here much longer. She may as well enjoy it.

As if reading her mind, Hanyuu smiled sadly. "Rika, don't worry. When it's time, I'll be the first to know." She reminded gently.

Rika smiled, while Satoko and Rena looked confused. "I am hungry! What's for dinner?"

Kohta's eyes lit up. "I believe Obasan is making it!" He exclaimed. "Hey, um...what's your name again?" He said, turning to Lucy.

* * *

"Lucy." She said coldly.

"Would you like to meet my grandmother? She's really nice once you get to know her." Kohta said eagerly, reaching out a hand to her.

_Why? Why is he being so nice to me? _

_**He's just trying to take advantage of you. Don't believe a human. **_

Lucy pushed the voice out of her mind, and took it warily. She didn't want another human mistreating her simply because of the horns on her head.

Kanae followed, as well as Yuka, who was eying Lucy. The brunette seemed to dislike her, Lucy noticed, if the way she was glaring at Lucy and looking at her horns wasn't an indication. Lucy returned the glare, causing the brunette to jump back in fear. Stupid human. Well, the feeling was mutual.

"Yuka, is something wrong?" Kanae asked, looking at her cousin in curiosity. She wondered what had made her cousin so jumpy.

"Nothing." Yuka said, shaking her head. She cast a final glance at Lucy as they walked down a hallway that led to where her obaasan was. She could've sworn, that aside from the redhead's fierce glare, she had seen...hands of some kind extending from her neck. She dismissed it as pure fiction.

* * *

Her father was already speaking to her grandmother when Kanae entered the room. They were talking lightheartedly. She smiled upon seeing her grandmother look better than she had before. A few days ago, she had been very sick, and Kanae had been worried sick. Now, she seemed better. "Obaachan, I brought some friends over!" She exclaimed, grasping her grandmother in a bear hug.

Her grandmother laughed, and grinned a bony smile as she clutched her granddaughter. "My, my, Kanae-chan, you're as lively as always. Where are they?" She said, looking out of the door.

Rika and Hanyuu were there first. Both of them smiled politely. "Hello." Both of them said.

Kanae's grandmother smiled warmly back. She seemed to not notice the horns on Hanyuu's head, or if she did, she made no remark about it. She greeted Rena, Satoshi, Satoko, and Shion. But when she saw Lucy, her expression changed.

"What's with her eyes? They're such an unusual color! Red, indeed! How strange! What are those on her head? Are they cat ears? Is it a birth defect?" She questioned out loud, looking over her quizically.

Lucy felt anger rise up in her. She didn't want to be treated like some kind of circus freak. She swallowed her hatred and managed to say calmly; "It's all right. They're natural. It's not hurting anyone, is it?" She said acridly.

"Well...it is a little conspicuous. Don't you think you should get them removed? They're quite strange, dear." She said pointedly. "That makes you strange. Maybe an albino?" She said again.

"Don't say things like that, obaasan! What she has is not a concern! If she were in a wheelchair, would you say the same thing?" Rika interjected firmly.

The grandmother flinched. She seemed to have been taken aback. "No, of course not. But this is different. Most people don't notice people in wheelchairs, but...this. It's right on her head, and people look at your face when you talk, so they're going to notice! Maybe I should get a doctor-" She said in concern.

Lucy felt something strange stirring inside of her. She thought she saw transparent arms come out of her back and wrap around the grandmother's neck. She felt something akin to...power flow inside of her. She grinned. _Payback time. _

The poor woman had no idea of course, so whenever she found it hard to breathe, she clutched her throat and struggled against her invisible attacker, but to no avail. Everyone else but Hanyuu thought she was simply choking.

Then, she fell over. Lucy grinned and was going to continue, but someone pushed her back.

It was Hanyuu, looking at her with disapproval. Her eyes were not friendly now, now they were red. "What are you doing, Lucy?" She said.

Lucy shivered slightly upon seeing her eyes. They seemed so inhuman... "Nothing at all!"

"Don't lie, Lucy...I saw you try to strangle her. That's not right." She said.

Kanae rushed over to her grandmother, and shook her. When she didn't respond, she cried, "Wake up!"

Her father pushed her aside lightly, and felt her neck. He turned to face them. "She's dead." He said quietly.

Kanae and Kohta gasped in alarm. "She went to heaven, daddy?" Kanae asked innocently.

"Yes." Kohta's father said.

Yuka was terrified. Her eyes drifted to Lucy, who bore a strange, sadistic smirk. "You...you did it!" She exclaimed at the top of her lungs, pointing a finger at Lucy.

"What are you saying?" Rena said. "Don't lie. She didn't do it."

Lucy felt Rena's gaze rest on hers for a brief moment before turning to her friends. Rena seemed to be very astute, that was a given. But had anyone actually _seen _those hands of hers, beside Hanyuu, which made sense, considering she wasn't human.

She then noticed the girl, Yuka, her name was, looking ashen. She wondered if she had seen. If so, then... "That's sad." Lucy said, feigning sadness.

Rena was becoming very interested in this girl Lucy. There seemed to be something in her that resembled her, in some aspects. She wondered if Lucy believed in Oyashiro-sama. She would have to discuss it with her later. "Do you really feel sad...I wonder?" She whispered.

Lucy stared at her. "O-Of course I do! She...she _died!" _Lucy protested.

Hanyuu stepped in between them. "Hau...don't fight, Rena!" She said, tears coming out of her eyes. "I'm going to cry if you keep it up..."

Rena's eyes lit up. "Hauu, Hanyuu-chan is just too cute! OMOCHIKAERI!" She screeched, scooping up Hanyuu and taking off with her, only to be grabbed from behind by someone. Rena looked behind her to see Rika smiling broadly.

"Nipah, Hanyuu will be lonely if she goes without me... "Rika said, making a puppy dog face.

"Hauu, you are too cute, Rika!" Rena said.

"Maybe we should try to be serious here. We have to bury her." Kohta's father said. "She died. Oh...I forgot, wasn't she making dinner?"

He rushed to the stove and looked, and found a bit of smoke rising from the stove. He went in to find the stove on fire. He quickly doused it with water and took the burnt kettle off of the stove. "Well...looks like we're going to have to order pizza."

Kanae and Kohta exchanged thrilled glances before bursting out into laughter. "PIZZA!"

Shion and Satoshi sweatdropped.


	10. Chapter 10 Repercussions

**A/N:Not much to say, except that I don't own either show. Elfen Lied and Higurashi belong to Lynn Okamoto and Ryukishi007. **

**Chapter 10 Repercussions**

Shion eyed the other children in the room with a mixture of both sympathy, delight, and confusion. How could Kanae and Kohta be so cheerful? Their grandmother had just _died, _after all! It wasn't something to start celebrating! Then, she studied the expressions on their faces closely, and she realized, they were sad.

Kanae's smile seemed a little forced, but her eyes gave away all the pain and fear she truly felt. It seemed, Shion thought, that like children, they were either trying to deny that her death had happened at all, or that they were just hiding all their pain behind a smile. She had tried to do that before, she thought. She vaguely recalled a time when she had acted that same way.

She remembered how she had been forced by Onibaba to go live at St. Lucia Academy. Of course, she refused to go, and clung to her twin sister, who was pleading to Onibaba to let her twin sister stay. Mion looked so terrified and panicked the entire time. But it was all for naught. In the end, she had been shipped away like a package to a Catholic school.

That school had been hell for her as well. The priests and nuns there didn't care a thing about her. Instead, they tried to drain her reasoning with all kinds of strange rituals and prayer, and other things that everyone else seemed to digest. Not her. Religion had never made much sense to Shion, who only saw it as an excuse to face death with dignity, or support someone who didn't feel that good about themselves in the first place. She also remembered how the villagers in Hinamizawa had used their god Oyashiro-sama as a tool in order to commit acts of violence in his (or was it her? name. All she knew was that she didn't believe in a god, and that's how it was for her. She never confessed that out loud, though.

* * *

"Shion? Are you all right?" Satoshi asked, snapping her out of her inner musings. His pink eyes were filled with concern as he looked into her eyes.

"A-Ah, I'm fine, Satoshi-kun! It's nothing! I-I'm just thinking about some dreams I had last night!" She exclaimed, waving her hands around. He merely blinked, taking it in.

"I swear, you act _just _like Mion. Shion, you are a dead ringer for her." Satoshi joked, patting her head, causing her to blush until her face was a scarlet color.

"Is Nii-nii flirting with his girlfriend again?" Satoko sneered, causing both of them to flush. Shion's blush deepened until steam was rising from her cheeks.

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND/HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" They shouted simultaneously. The look on their faces said otherwise, however. Everyone else just smiled.

"Really?" Rena interjected, her eyes wide in interest. "You aren't lying...are you, Shii-chan?" Suddenly, the cheerful tone dissipated, leaving behind a menacing one in its place. Her blue eyes were now ice-cold.

Shion shivered. She had thought something was up with Rena, but now she felt a little uncomfortable. She glanced around. No one else seemed to notice Rena's change in behavior,with the exception of Rika, who was looking her way in concern. "No, I'm not..." She said, her blush deepening slightly.

Rena's expression changed then. "HAUU! YOU ARE ALL SO KAWAII! I'M TAKING YOU ALL HOME WITH ME!" She said, but Shion and Satoshi held her back.

"You're not taking my sister again, Ryuuguu-san." Kohta warned.

Kanae grinned evilly. She then stuck her tongue out at Rena, who started sulking. "You can't get me now, Rena-chan." She taunted, then turned to Kohta. "Because Oniichan will always protect me, right...Oniichan?"

* * *

Kohta nodded mutely. He was looking over at Lucy as he did so. He was very interested in the one girl who had not talked much during the whole conversation they had been having. She seemed to be quite shy and withdrawn. She would only smile occasionally when a joke was made, or nod politely. He wondered why that was. Then he remembered the comment that Furude Rika-san had made earlier:

"_Lucy-san has been bullied up until now. Treat her kindly." _

His eyes widened. So that was why she was so distant! Poor girl. He knew what that felt like, since he didn't get along well with his classmates, but he wondered exactly _why _she had been bullied. Was it because of those horns on her head? "Hey, um..." He said softly.

She turned her head to look at him. "What?" She said icily.

"Why were you bullied?" He asked gently.

Her reaction was along the lines of what he expected. She stared at him coldly for a few moments, then answered. "They picked on me because of my stupid horns. They also didn't like the fact that I was happy while they weren't."

"That's too bad. Not all of us are like that, you know. Lucy, there are way more good people than bad out there, you know." Kohta soothed.

Her eyes widened, and she blushed faintly. "Kohta, you seem nice..." She trailed off, then spoke again. "You're not like the kids at the orphanage. You seem to not judge others on initial appearance, right?" She asked.

He nodded. "Yes, because tousan taught me it's best not to be mean to anyone." He said. "He's really a great man!"

Lucy was silent for a few moments. Then, she spoke. "I was wondering, Kohta, when is this festival?"

"It's tonight." Kohta said.

Rika's eyes lit up. "Oh, it's just like the ones back home!" She said cordially.

"How nostalgic! I, Hojo Satoko, will display my unmatched power of traps! No one can beat me!" She exclaimed boastfully.

"Yeah, right! I might be able to!" Kanae cut in.

"Oh, really, Kanae-chan? You have never experienced the actual use of traps in combat. It is not an easy thing-" She began.

"Satoko, that's enough." Satoshi said. "Why don't you go watch TV or something with Kanae?"

Satoko and Kanae nodded, and scampered off down the hallway.

"I can show you where my bedroom is! It's really nice!" Kanae chirped, taking Satoko's hand in hers.

Satoshi sighed. "At least Satoko has some friends." He said to himself.

"What do you mean by that?" Lucy spoke up. "Doesn't she normally-"

A look of pain darted across Satoshi's face. "No, I mean she has plenty of friends! Never mind." He said, trying to convince her otherwise, but failing.

* * *

Lucy had become pretty used to Rika and her friends, but she still thought there was something they were hiding from her. They barely talked about where they came from, their parents, or what they had done before they came her. Even Rika and Hanyuu preferred to keep quiet on such things. She wanted to find answers.

"Um, Ryuuguu-san, I was wondering whether you can answer a few questions for me?" She asked politely, stepping toward the brunette, who was currently hugging some of Kanae's stuffed toys.

She looked down at Lucy. "Oh, what is it?"

Lucy faced the ground as she said this. "I think you guys are hiding things from me. Why doesn't Satoko have many friends? Can you please give me an answer?"

Rena remained silent for a moment. She seemed to be mulling the questions over in her mind. She smiled then. "Of course. But, we'll have to go somewhere private. Why don't we head outside?" She said kindly, extending Lucy her hand.

Lucy accepted, and the two of them went out the sliding door, and went down the stairs to where the beach was. The waters were a sparkling blue which was very beautiful to look at. "I like the beach. It's the first time I've ever seen something like this." She said quietly.

"Really?" Rena said in disbelief. "But, you had to have had parents before-"

"I was in that place all my life, Ryuuguu-san." Lucy repeated coldly.

Rena absorbed the information. "I understand what you're going through. My life is a little...sad. Oh, about Satoko-chan? Well, it happened a while ago. Our village was going to be put underwater by a construction project, and Satoko-chan's family supported it. Shii-chan's family, the head of the village, was against it, and they decided to mistreat her and her family. Everywhere they went, they were taunted, shunned, and ostracized. Satoko has suffered a lot in her short life. She has been abused before, too."

"And her brother?"

"He has had some of it as well." Rena said quietly. "Sometimes, I wonder...why do humans suffer? Is there some reason for it? Then, I got my answer...from Oyashiro-sama."

"Oyashiro-sama? Isn't that Han-I mean, a myth?" Lucy interjected, laughing nervously.

Rena's eyes narrowed. "I'm afraid it isn't. I have _experienced its presence, _Lucy-chan. It knows everything bad you do and follows you everywhere you go. You'll know, when you hear the extra step matching your own. Sometimes, it even stands down at my bed, watching me sleep. It has told me to stay in Hinamizawa and never leave. I'm afraid I will incur Oyashiro-sama's wrath because I have left when I was not supposed to. Have you done anything wrong, Lucy?" She said darkly. Her blue eyes were gleaming in madness.

Lucy realized then that Rena was unbalanced. She didn't know what to say. "Umm...no I haven't."

"That's good to know...because..." Rena started to say, smiling, then...

"THAT'S A LIE!" She shrieked, her pupils dilating as she did so. Her whole face contorted into a look of rage. Lucy jumped backwards.

"Why would you think that?" She asked darkly, recovering her composure.

"Why would you hesitate when I asked you that question, Lucy-chan? That proves my deduction...that you murdered Kohta and Kanae's grandmother! The look on your face was just like mine." She continued. "Yes, I have killed too, Lucy. I killed that boy who tormented you! I cut him in pieces! It was so fun, because I knew Oyashiro-sama didn't approve of his actions and he entrusted me to carry out his will!" She ranted.

Lucy started to feel very frightened. She didn't know why, but the voice in her head was growing stronger and stronger. Her invisible arms came out from her back and surrounded Rena. "I won't let you kill me, you know!" She said fiercely, her eyes flashing.

Rena gasped and stepped back. "Those little arms of yours won't work on me!" She said, and took out her billhook, which Lucy noticed was covered in blood. Rena licked it. "Delicious. Aren't you glad that I killed that boy for you?"

Lucy grinned maliciously. "Yes, I am. But I haven't done anything wrong! Don't kill anyone else!"

Rena smirked. "I can't make any promises. If Oyashiro-sama wills it, I will kill them!" She exclaimed. She was unaware of Satoko and Kanae watching them both. Both of them were terrified at what they had just overheard.

"_Lucy-san is...a killer? Rena...killed that boy?" _

_"That nice girl...and Lucy? I have to warn Onii-chan!" _

Both of their thoughts were the same, but they moved too fast. Rena heard them and came towards Kanae. She held Kanae up in the air. "Should I kill you?"

Kanae started to cry. "Don't hurt me, please!"

Instantly, Rena dropped the billhook and hugged Kanae. "OMOCHIKAERI!" She yelped.

Satoko was shaking as Lucy approached. "Lucy-san, why did you...kill her?"

Lucy glared at her. "What? I won't hesitate to kill you."

"I know how it feels to hate the world when the world hates you, Lucy-san. I was treated badly by my aunt and uncle. They both beat me and yelled at me all the time. They sometimes tied me to a chair and made me eat the food I like least. But you can't hate everyone! You must not do the same things people did to you! Then you're on Hanako's level!" Satoko pleaded.

Lucy stopped. "You're right...I'm sorry if I scared you." She said.

Satoko hugged her.

Lucy's eyes narrowed as she looked over at Rena and Kanae. _Those two know too much..._


	11. Chapter 11 No turning back now

**A/N:It's time to write some more again! **

**Chapter 11 Unexpected parting**

**1983, June 4th, Hinamizawa **

This was getting so tiresome. She had been searching all over Japan, and somehow, she couldn't find the Queen Carrier. This was frustrating to her, since the Queen Carrier was the one thing standing in her way of becoming a god. As long as she lived, her plans to carry on her master plan would be deterred. This meant she would not look good with her superiors, and she already had quite a strenuous relationship with them; they dismissed her dear grandfather's theory as nonsense, and she despised them with every fiber of her being. Still, they were above her in rank, so she had to do whatever they wanted her to.

Thus, the only way she could ever hope to please them was by eradicating Hinamizawa and giving them firm proof of the existence of Hinamizawa Syndrome. It would be so easy too, manipulating the Queen Carrier's friends to turn against one another and watch them kill each other from the shadows. She had enjoyed that in all the previous worlds, but in the last one, the brats had become particularly irritating since they had all banded together and tried to fight her. Still, she killed them all, including the one she was supposed to kill.

Rika Furude was truly a unique individual. It was too bad that she had to kill her since she was Oyashiro-sama's incarnation and that was the only thing that didn't make her a god. The little girl was always supple and willing every time. She would always go out without a struggle and would welcome death with open arms. The last time, however...she had declared madly that she would remember Takano in the next world.

Now she was gone. But it wasn't just her who was gone. It seemed all of her friends were gone, too. She wondered where they could have possibly scampered off to. It made her very steamed when one of her prey escapes her greedy clutches. For you see, Miyo Takano was definitely someone not to anger. She could become quite fearsome and terrifying when angered, so everyone usually did their best to be on good terms with her. She knew of a few who didn't, like that jerk Oishi, or Irie, the doctor. Ah, well. They would die soon, anyways. But wherever Rika Furude was, she would find her.

She was interrupted out of her private thoughts when the door banged open and a group of men in uniforms came running in. They were all out of breath, but there was a look of excitement on their faces. This intrigued Takano. She wondered what had made them particularly happy.

"My lady, we have uncovered traces of Furude's presence. She was at her house a few weeks ago, judging from some of her clothes that were in her room. We think that she ran away with her friends somewhere. We are searching for them-"

"FIND THEM OR ELSE!" Takano screeched, causing most of the men in the room to jump. "YOU KNOW MY JOB DEPENDS ON KILLING THOSE DAMN KIDS!"

"Yes, my lady! Right away!" They screeched, and ran out the door.

Takano sat in her office, then a knock sounded on her door. She opened it to see a man with dark hair and a little girl with pink hair come in. The girl had red eyes and was wearing a red bow on over her head. She had a delicate, tender face. She emitted hope and happiness from her entire being, which made Takano crinkle her nose in disgust. She hated goody-two-shoes who thought they knew everything. Stupid optimists. They were such idealistic people who would never get anywhere in the world.

"Hello. What can I do for you?" She said, keeping a forced smile on her face.

"I'm Director Kurama. This is Nana. Say hello, Nana." Kurama said, nudging Nana, who waved.

"Hi, I'm Nana! This is my papa!" She exclaimed.

"She certainly doesn't look like your offspring." Takano remarked.

Nana just grinned innocently.

"Why don't you take off your bow, Nana?" Kurama asked politely, to which Nana meekly obeyed.

Takano gasped upon seeing two white horns sticking out of the girl's head. "What are those?" She asked in awe. Was this child a goddess?

"They're my horns. They're natural...-san..."

"It's Takano-san, Nana-chan." Takano soothed. "Tell me, what is she exactly?" She asked Kurama.

"To tell the truth, she's a Dicloni. They aren't human, but they can take on humanoid form and pretend to be one of us. The only differences between them and us are their horns on their heads, their vectors, and their insatiable thirst for blood. Their vectors are invisible arms they control and they usually use them to kill any human that gets in their way. Only a few people can actually see them, which is why we usually keep them locked up. They have a vicious hatred of humans, and will kill any of us without any remorse." Kurama explained.

"I wouldn't kill you, Papa! You're wrong! I'm human, too!" Nana exclaimed, tugging at Kurama's pant leg.

"No, you're not human. You're a special being." Kurama soothed, which caused Nana to smile in relief.

"Why exactly are you coming here to talk to me?" Takano interjected curiously, her honey brown eyes full of delight.

Kurama shivered. This woman had bloodthirst in her eyes. He continued on. "Well, we have a special facility for keeping these Dicloni locked up and away from humans, so they don't hurt or kill innocent people."

"How are they treated there?" Takano asked icily. She remembered the time she had been locked up in a hellish orphanage. She still hated children who got abused by organizations, because it reminded her of the hell she endured at that place.

"Well, usually we chain them up, and do tests on them in order to see how powerful they are. We feed them, of course." Kurama said, but Takano wasn't satisified with that answer.

"Are they allowed to leave and get fresh air? Can they interact with normal children?" Takano asked.

"She is probably an exception to this rule. Nana has never hit or killed anyone with her vectors no matter how many times we torture her. She always submits, and that's a good thing. It's a rare trait among Dicloni. We do have one that has escaped. Until recently, she was living in an orphanage."

Takano's fists tightened upon hearing that word. It brought back too many painful memories. She suppressed them. "How was that one treated there?"

Kurama said, "The other children there treated her like the freak she was. She had no friends, and a couple of my co-worker's foster children talked about how scary she was. Apparently, she would bully some of them."

Takano's eyes narrowed. "YOU'RE LYING! YOU ARE A CORRUPT AND PREJUDICED BASTARD!" She screeched. "..." She hissed through clenched teeth.

"It's not like any families would want to adopt her." Kurama insisted. "I mean, she was the worst one we had. "

"Do you know where I spent my childhood? In an orphanage, and there I was treated like shit. The headmaster there was an absolute sadist who took pleasure out of beating us up and yelling at us for the slightest misdemeanors. I don't like how you take pleasure out of abandoning an orphaned child in the hands of a place that is filthy and corrupt! Even if she isn't human, she should be with a _family!" She screeched. _

Kurama stepped back, startled at her sudden outburst. He was silent. "I...take it you won't be coming on a tour of our facility?" He asked nervously.

"Definitely not. Now, get out. Take the brat with you. If I were you, I wouldn't mess her up, too." Takano spat coldly.

"One more thing, Takano. This runaway dicloni was spotted hanging around a group of human children." He said. This perked Takano's interest.

"What kinds of children were they?"

"Well...the eldest seemed to be teenagers, and the youngest were at least the same age as her, which is nine years. I don't know what they look like, though." He said.

A wide grin made its way onto Takano's face. She started to laugh insanely and loudly. "I see...I have won in my game!" She raved.

Kurama stared at her like she was mad, and then got the hint and pulled Nana beside him and escorted her out of the room. The second the door slammed shut, Takano's laughter echoed throughout the room she was in.

"Rika-chan, I believe I have found you. Get ready for some fun." She said derisively.

* * *

Rika shot up in her bed, panting in a cold sweat. She looked around, and upon seeing Hanyuu, sighed in relief. "Thank god, Hanyuu. That was all a dream. I dreamed Takano found out where we were, and killed all of us." She said.

Hanyuu cringed. "Au...She's bound to catch onto us sooner or later, Rika. We may have to leave sooner than we thought. Rena's...snapped."

Rika flinched. "How do you know that?" She demanded.

"Satoko and Kanae-chan told me. They saw Rena and Lucy-chan arguing. Apparently, they know Lucy and Rena have blood on their hands. It may not be long before they decide to kill them. Unless we intervene, Rika...I doubt there's much we can do." Hanyuu said sadly.

"Enough of your pessimistic talk, Hanyuu! This is our last chance! I'm not giving up now!" Rika said. "I've gone through enough years of torment, torture, and tedium! I want to grow up!"

Lucy stirred, and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Huh...what's going on?" She asked drowsily.

"Au...Rika, you know we don't have much time left here. We may as well leave. " Hanyuu said. She sounded panicked about something. Lucy wondered what it was.

"Satoko and Kanae will not die. I will make sure of that. If either Rena or Lucy wishes to kill them, they will have to go through me first. I'd rather die by their hands than by that wicked, cruel hag Takano!" Rika proclaimed.

* * *

Lucy's eyes widened. "Rika...?"

Rika turned to face her. There was a look of alarm on her face. "Did you hear?"

Lucy nodded. "What were you saying about me? Do you really care about me?" She said coldly.

"O-Of course. I merely wish to save you from a life full of pain and sadness." Rika said, her voice sounding deeper, which unnerved Lucy.

Lucy mulled over that comment, then said: "I don't trust you guys entirely. But if it hadn't been for you, Kei-chan wouldn't be here, Hanako would've still been lying to me, Tomoo would still be tormenting me, and I would be lonely like always. I owe you a lot. Really, I do. However, are we going down separate paths, Rika?" She asked hesitantly.

Rika nodded somberly. "Unfortunately, the answer is yes. You have to survive on your own. We are probably only going to live for a few weeks at the most, or maybe even a few days. The one who has hunted us before is coming after us again. We cannot put Kanae, Kohta, and Yuka in danger. The same goes for you." She said seriously.

"I wanna come with you! I have my vectors!" She exclaimed, waking up Shion, too.

"Killing isn't the answer, Lucy. Even I know that. All of us have given in to that urge one time or another. But what really matters is following what you believe in." Hanyuu advised. "So, do you wish to stay with us? We're leaving after the festival tomorrow."

Lucy nodded her head. "Yes. You are my only friends. I couldn't possibly make it without you guys."

"Yawn...do you mind stopping all of the melodramatic acting, you guys? We have to get some sleep, you know." Shion complained drowsily.

"Nipah! Sorry, Shii-chan. We were rehearsing our lines for tomorrow! We're going to go in a play!" Rika lied. Lucy was surprised at how well Rika could act and conceal her true intentions.

"If that's so, leave me out of it." Shion muttered, pulling her covers back over herself and falling asleep.

Lucy sweatdropped. "So, from now on...we stick together."

Hanyuu and Rika nodded. "That's right!"

* * *

A shadow watched them from outside the door. It was Kouta's father and Yuka.

"I knew she wasn't human the moment I saw her." He said softly. "What should we do? They're all runaways. We can't harbor them forever."

Yuka shrugged. "Ojiisan, you're better at those decisions than I am! But I don't want Kanae or Kohta to get in danger because of that girl! I think we should try to get rid of her."

"Get rid...of who?" A soft voice uttered. Both of them turned around to see an angry Lucy standing behind them. "So, you two really don't care for me, do you? What's not to like about me?"

"Well...you killed my obaasan! I saw it!" Yuka exclaimed.

"Relax, Yuka. She's only a child. She can't do that kind of thing. Say, why don't you come home tomorrow? "

"Like I said before, I _don't have one. I'm not going back to hell." _She spat coldly. Her vectors were ready to strike, but upon seeing Rika cast her a withering glance, she resisted the urge to cut him in two. Maybe she could kill the annoying little girl. She had been getting on her nerves lately. She walked past Yuka. "If you tell anyone about me, you will die." She hissed.

Yuka shivered. "Yes, I understand." She said, shaking all over. She hated that girl and knew she was bad news from the beginning! Why didn't anyone listen to her? Not even her ojisan did!

"I'll just get rid of her myself." She decided.


	12. Chapter 12 The beginning of the end

A/N:Finally, I'm ready to update this story!

**Chapter 12 Festival Fun!**

The next morning, Rika awoke bright and early. It was still dark in her room as she sat up from her bed. She yawned, and scratched her dark blue hair as she adjusted to the waking world. She blinked her violet orbs a few moments before she remembered where she was. For a moment, she expected to see herself alone with Satoko, but here she saw a touching sight.

Hanyuu and Lucy were curled up together. Both of them were sleeping beside one another; their hands were entwined in each other's grasps as well. It both amused and disturbed Rika. For once, Hanyuu had met someone besides Rika she could talk to and relate with. Second, Rika had met someone else like her, which was Lucy. She felt herself becoming very fond of the young girl, and protective of her.

Rika laughed in her head. She couldn't be around Lucy much longer, that much was certain. She was putting all of Lucy's friends in peril just by hanging around with them. So long as she stayed with them, all of them were now targets under Takano's death list. She had to leave after the festival, before Takano got to them. It was the least she could do. That is, if Takano didn't catch her first and kill her.

She gazed out the window forlornly. Even she, the supposed incarnation of Oyashiro-sama, could only guess as to what the future held, though she was sure it would not be a happy one. Since she had entered this world, she had been filled with the same feelings she had gathered from the previous world, which were optimistic, but at the same time filled with a sense of regret. She wondered what had happened to Keiichi and Mion. She had not seen Mion since they had first entered Lucy's orphanage.

What had happened to her? These troubling thoughts rose to the surface of her mind briefly, but they soon faded away as she looked out the window and was startled to see bright light come out of the mountain's shadow. The sun...was rising. It wasn't the first time that she had seen it, but it was the first time she'd seen it this bright before. The sky was filled with all different kinds of colors.

She sighed and climbed up on the windowsill. Just this once, she wanted to run away from it all. Perhaps she could live a different life, under a different name. Maybe she could be adopted into another family and ditch the name "Furude." She had one shot, so she should take it.

* * *

"Rika, don't go."A familiar voice pleaded. It was Kanae. Rika turned around to see the purple-haired girl standing in the doorway. Her eyes were filled with tears as she watched her new friend.

"Kanae...I have to. I can't be associated with you guys any longer." Rika said sadly.

"You can't! I'll wake up everyone by screaming really loudly!" Kanae said. "Besides, we're friends, aren't we?"

Rika nodded quietly. "Un, we are friends. But, fate has only allowed us to meet for a short time, Kanae. I will be gone soon."

Kanae stared at her, uncomprehending. Then, the six-year old grabbed ahold of Rika's legs and dragged her away from the window and onto the floor. She stood over Rika. "You can't leave! Whatever it is you're running away from, you can count on me! I can help you!" She exclaimed.

Rika smiled sadly. She looked over to where Hanyuu and Lucy were still fast asleep, in the happy world of their dreams. "Tomorrow morning, I'm leaving, Kanae. That's how it goes."

Kanae smiled softly, and wiped away her tears. "Okay...but, before you leave, there's something I need to give to you!" She cried, and ran out of the room.

Rika watched on in vague amusement, wondering what exactly it could be. A few minutes passed, and then once thirty minutes had passed, Kanae returned. She returned just as Shion and the others were waking up.

Kanae came towards her with a pair of sea shells. One was brightly colored, the other was plain. Each of them had a name scrawled on in messy letters. It was obvious to Rika that what Kanae had been doing was decorating this sea shell...for her. "Thank you, Kanae."

"So long as you have it, the two of us will never be apart, Rika." Kanae said, and smiled brightly at her.

Rika just smiled back. Kanae was so kind. She was going to miss that kind face of hers, but it was too late to turn back now. After today's fun and festivities, she must leave. That much was a given.

* * *

Hanyuu and Satoko approached. "Rika, is it true that after this, we're going to...?" She began, her pink eyes full of uncertainty.

The bluenette stared in concern at her friend. It seemed that Kanae had already informed everyone of their departure tomorrow. She frowned. The nerve of that girl...still, she was a good person, so she was probably worried about Rika.

Kota came in the room then, followed closely by Yuka, who clung tightly to his leg. Then, Lucy came out, followed by Kei-chan, who nipped her ankles playfully. Lucy grinned and laughed as she tried to free the pesky dog from jumping all over her.

"So, when does the festival start?" Lucy asked eagerly. There was also a sense of tension in her voice as well. She was both excited and afraid. She knew other people were going to be there, mainly strangers, so would she be picked on again?

As if reading her mind, Hanyuu leaned forward and whispered something in her ear. Lucy brightened then. "You can get something like that, and then people won't stare at you, okay?"

Lucy nodded slightly, and smiled, but her smile turned into a frown as she saw Yuka glaring at her. That annoying little brat had been getting on her nerves lately. Worst of all was the fact that now some of her friends knew she had killed Kota and Kanae's grandmother. She would have to take care of them...no, she couldn't do that.

_That's wrong. It makes me a criminal. Killing is wrong. _

But no matter how many times she told herself that, she just couldn't believe it. She was beginning to doubt Rika and Hanyuu's words. Were they really right? After all, Rena had killed that bully, and Lucy thought he had gotten what he deserved. Was it really right to think that way, or was she being poisoned by hatred?

"...Lucy, it's time to go." Kota's voice snapped Lucy out of her daze.

"Huh?" She asked.

"We're going to go now. We're staying at the festival all day long." Kota said, and extended a hand to her. Lucy took it and blushed faintly. Kei-chan yipped happily. Lucy shushed him. "No, you're staying here to guard the house until we come back. You guys...will you...perhaps look after Kei-chan for me?" She asked Kota and Kanae.

"Why?" Kota asked.

"Somehow...I think this is the last time I'll ever see you guys again. I don't know why, though." Lucy replied ambiguously.

"There's a problem with that. We're leaving tonight. After the festival ends, Kanae, my dad, and I...are leaving. This isn't our house, y'see. It's a vacation house. Furthermore, Yuka's parents should be arriving home soon, so I'd have to ask them for permission." Kota announced.

Lucy gasped in shock. "What? But-"

"It's okay. Yuka-chan will take good care of your dog." Hanyuu reassured. "After all...we don't have much time to waste anymore. Let's go..." She muttered quietly.

Lucy was thoroughly puzzled by the way Rika and Hanyuu were acting today. They were never usually this quiet or puzzling...unless, something was wrong. She didn't know what, but she felt an empty pit in her stomach.

* * *

As the gang left Yuka's house, Rika looked back at them. She knew she would never see them again. She had a sign that someone had found them. The other day, she had overheard Kota's father telling Kanae that someone was out looking for Rika and the others. The person had come to the door and asked where the kids were. This was a man in a business suit.

Rika wondered whether it was Takano. If so, then she was going to fight to stay alive, no matter what it took.

"By the way, Rena. I got a phone call from Onee, and she said there have been strange men in suits wondering around Hinamizawa. She said Onibaba was pestered about Rika-chan and her whereabouts. Onibaba shook them off, but lately they've been hanging around and harassing residents." Shion said.

"That means...they want to find us, huh?" Rena said astutely. "I don't know why...they're after us, but we'll fight." She said menacingly.

Rika nodded solemnly. "They won't find us easily." She said.

"Someone's after you?" Lucy asked. "Who?"

Rika shook her head. "This doesn't concern you." She said coldly.

Kanae was shocked to hear that kind of response. "Rika, whatever it is you're hiding, you can still tell me." She said.

They arrived at the festival grounds shortly and got out. There were huge crowds of people, and all kinds of activities were going on.

Rena looked around excitedly. "Hau...Rena is going to take every cute prize here home!" She squealed.

"That is, if you can beat me!" Shion declared.

"Don't forget about me." Satoshi added quietly.

"Even without Mion, we can still do the club!" Satoko cried, and pumped her fist in the air. "Let's...go!"

All of them raced off to do various things. Rika and Hanyuu stuck close by Lucy, not wanting to become separated for a moment. Lucy followed behind them warily. She thought she saw someone following them. She turned around, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw a small shadow skitter out of sight. She gasped. _Someone is after them! I'll have to protect them! _

* * *

Kota noticed Lucy's strange behavior. "What's wrong, Lucy? Are you tired?"

"No, it's nothing. It's just-"

At that moment, Lucy bumped into a drunk man and fell down.

"Geez, kid, watch where you're going!" He cried.

Lucy rubbed herself off and started to get back up.

"How clumsy she is! Why is she talking to herself?" A woman asked callously.

Kanae frowned at them. She didn't like the way they were acting. "Hey, stop it." She said, but the women paid no attention to her.

The drunk man walked back up to Lucy and kicked her. "Hey, you stupid brat! Get out of the road!" He yelled. "Seriously, what's with you?" He growled.

Other people were staring at her in disgust. "What are those on her head? Horns?" One woman asked. She looked sickened.

Kota and his father had left Lucy all alone. She was now all alone. She shivered and started crying.

Kanae was the only one there. "Hey, what's with you, Lucy? Come on, let's go." She said, and tugged at the pinkette's arm.

"Leave me alone." She hissed.

"Yeah, leave the freak alone. She's talking to herself, so she's obviously not human." A man remarked.

The drunk man kept on shouting at her. Suddenly, a shadow dove in front of Lucy. It was Satoshi and Satoko.

"Oi, is there any need for this? She just fell, you jerks! Why don't you stop the rude remarks and help her up? I thought your parents taught you manners, so why don't you show some and help her?" Satoshi snapped.

"I don't see you doing anything! Besides, she's a freak!" The drunk man replied.

"Bullying is inhuman! Leave her alone, you scumbags! Apologize now!" Satoko demanded.

The people looked disgusted at them. "Why should we, freak? What's with yer eyes?" A woman taunted. "You look like an albino. Go back in your cave."

Suddenly, Rena appeared from whereever she had been. Her eyes widened as she took in Lucy's crying face, and how hurt Satoko and Satoshi looked. She dropped a stuffed animal, and pulled out her machete. "Leave them alone." She said, her voice low.

"I didn't touch her, honest!" The drunk man begged.

"USO DA!" Rena screamed, right in his face. The drunk man staggered backwards. Rena started to chuckle lightly, and raised her machete up in the air. But before she could do anything, the man was suddenly cut in half, along with the others. Rena stepped back in shock as the blood of the dead people got on her face.

Lucy stood up, and got to her feet. Blood was now on her face. "You bastards..." She hissed.

"So, you've come to your senses?" Rena praised.

Satoko and Satoshi watched on in shock. "Rena, stop!" Satoshi urged.

Rika heard screaming from where she was. "Oh, no...it's begun." She said to herself.

Sure enough, people were running away from a pinkette in terror, but they were also being killed as they ran. Rika watched on in horror as a man was decapitated. Lucy was the culprit. It was like she was being mind-controlled.

"Stop it, Lucy!" Kanae demanded, getting in front of Lucy. "You need to stop!"

Lucy's eyes widened as she saw Kanae. "What happened?" She asked.

"You...hurt people!" Kanae said. "How?"

Their father came over then. "What's going on-"

Suddenly, Kanae and Kota's father collapsed, blood spurting from a hole in his head. He had been shot in the head. He was dead. Kota screamed upon seeing his father's dead body. Kanae did, too.

Lucy and Rika both jumped upon seeing a man in a uniform appear, holding a pistol in his hands.

"Let's apprehend the diclonius." He said. "We found you two at last. The Queen Carrier and the diclonius Queen. Who would've thought you two would form a team together? You've made a courageous escape..." He said evilly.

"Rika-chan, it's time to die." A familiar voice said, and Takano stepped out of the shadows. She was grinning broadly.

Rika shivered. Satoshi and Satoko gasped. Kanae and Kota started to run.

"Run away, you two!" Lucy cried. "I'll deal with them!"

* * *

Suddenly, there was a cry of pain. Satoko had been shot in the leg.


	13. Chapter 13 The bitter end

**A/N:Here is the next chapter! Now, expect it to go downhill... TT **

**Warning:Some violence in this chapter. A few gory scenes. **

**Chapter 13 The bitter end**

* * *

Rika's eyes widened in horror as she saw her best friend fall to the ground, as blood streamed from her leg. She had never thought it was going to be exactly like last time, with her friends dying in front of her. It was so much better being killed by her friends than seeing one of them be shot in front of her eyes. "SATOKO!" She screamed.

Hanyuu rushed to Satoko's side. "Are you okay, Satoko?" She asked, wiping the blood away. Hanyuu cast a worried glance over her shoulder at the crowds of worried people, who had just seen the shooting, and were now coming towards them. _Before, when Lucy was being bullied by them, they incited it, but now that someone's gotten hurt, they're worried? How insensitive. _

"Are you okay, little girl?" A young woman wearing a kimono asked tenderly, walking up to Rika and Satoko. Satoshi hovered over Satoko protectively. He didn't want any unfamiliar strangers messing with his little sister. For all he knew, they could be associated with Takano.

"She's fine. This doesn't involve you." Satoshi said warily. "Go now."

"But-" The woman uttered.

"You could be killed for trying to help us." Satoshi urged, again. The woman hesitated.

A gunshot rang out. A member of the crowd had just been shot. A young boy who resembled Rika collapsed, dead. Blood seeped out from underneath him. Another rang out. The woman who just spoke collapsed on the spot. She was dead.

Kota and Kanae both followed after Satoshi and Satoko. Their mouths dropped open upon seeing Satoko's wounded leg. Kanae's eyes were filled with unshed tears as she took in all of the chaos that had warped the formerly fun and playful outing into a horrific and bloody massacre.

"Why, Oniichan? Why is this happening?" Kanae moaned, tears spilling down her face. "Rika-chan and Satoko-chan have done nothing wrong!" She protested.

Kota held his sister protectively. "I know. Right now, we have to escape. We have to live. We have to go with them, even if we die." He said, a determined look evident on his features.

Kanae sobbed into his chest. "But, we could be hurt! And now tousan's gone up to heaven!" She moaned.

"Come with us." Shion said hurriedly. "Rena and I know where you two can go and escape this. Come on, we can't waste any more time." She said.

Sure enough, more of TOKYO's men arrived, and started discharging their ammo into the innocent crowd. A stampede began as a large amount of people started trying to escape from the shootings.

Rika and Hanyuu ran away from the chaos, with Lucy right behind them. Satoshi came behind her, carrying Satoko. Satoshi looked behind them. "Rika, they're catching up!"

"Who?" Rika asked.

"Kota and his sister. What should we do?" Satoshi asked.

"Leave them." Rika said calmly. Her voice was more mature and deep. "I can't risk allowing them to get caught up in my problems." She said.

"Yet you've allowed me to come with you." Lucy remarked, a cold look evident on her face. "I can fend those bastards off with my vectors."

"Vectors?" Hanyuu asked.

"I'm a magician, Hanyuu. I can block bullets or strangle people with my vectors. I can make them do whatever I want them to." Lucy said, grinning as she did so.

Now they were on the outskirts of town, and were running towards a forest. They knew they couldn't outrun their pursuers forever, but what else could they do? They were being hunted down, so their only instinct was to escape and survive. Nothing else mattered.

"Satoko's wound hasn't stopped bleeding."Satoshi stated worriedly. "I'll have to tend to it."

"No time, Nii-nii. I fear...it's the end of the line for me." Satoko joked weakly, before coughing.

"Satoko!" Rika exclaimed. "You can make it. I swear you can!"

Satoko smiled faintly at them both. "Of course I can. Rika, I know we'll play games again together. Hanyuu, I know Rena-chan will try and take us home. I know Mion will start playing games with us-"

**BANG!**

* * *

Satoko slumped over. Blood streamed out from her shirt. She had been shot in the chest. "Rika...I'm sorry...I didn't get to protect you. I didn't think...I would...get...to. Nii-nii...I'm glad...I could...meet...yo...u." Satoko trailed off, and her crimson orbs faded as the light went out of her.

"Satoko, open your eyes! Satoko, Satoko! SATOKO!" Satoshi screamed, and started sobbing wildly into his dead sister's chest. "Satoko..." He muttered.

"We have to go." Rika said urgently. "She's dead. You'll see her again."

Satoshi stared hard at her. "No, I won't! She's dead! I'll avenge her murder!"

"Of course you will, Hojo-san. But I'm afraid that will be in the afterlife." A lofty voice uttered. Miyo Takano stepped out of the woods, looking like a demon in her black garb. She pointed a smoking gun at them all. "After all, I didn't want your poor sister to see you get killed. It was a mercy killing." She said.

"Angel of Death, aren't you? Not unlike Dr. Mengele, who justified unethical experimenting on children in the Holocaust." Lucy said, standing up. There was an emotionless look on her face. "Shoot me. It won't work."

"My! It seems we have one who actually wants to die! Your wish is granted!" Takano said cheerily. She smiled. Then fired.

The bullet recoiled. It didn't even touch Lucy, instead it fell to the ground limply.

Takano's eyes widened. "What are you?" She screeched.

"Not one of you disgusting humans." Lucy snarled.

"Come quietly, Queen Carrier! Or else we'll kill these two children!" Okonogi exclaimed, and dragged out a terrified Kanae and Kota. Both of them had guns to their heads.

"Let me go!" Kanae exclaimed.

"I never intended to escape, Takano." Rika said coldly. "After all, this isn't the end. But before I go, I want to know one thing: where is Mion?"

Takano stared at her for a moment, then burst out into high laughter, not unlike that of a swan. "Oh, Sonozaki-san? She's alive. I couldn't find her or that Maebara boy. They must be hiding somewhere. However, I did find two of your friends-" She craned her neck to point out Rena and Shion, who stood in fear.

"Rika, we'll get out of here!" Shion said cheerily, a fake smile on her face.

Kota shivered. "Lucy?"

"I'll get us out of this." Lucy replied dully.

"Takano, you are a cold, ruthless monster." Hanyuu screamed.

"Is that so? I've been called that ever since I was a child." Takano smirked, and seemed to absorb the insult as though it were nothing more than a compliment.

* * *

"You will die." Lucy said in a monotone. Suddenly, Takano's head was decapitated in a pool of blood. Her lifeless body fell to the forest floor, while her officers watched on in shock. For a moment, there was a stunned silence.

Then, one officer screamed and panicked. He started to fire a gun, but Lucy deflected every last one with her vectors. All the bullets fell harmlessly to the ground. The officer panicked, but then Rena hit him atop the head and knocked him out.

"Got him! Come on, Kanae-chan and Kota!" She encouraged.

Okonogi grinned evilly. "I'm afraid they are non-negotiable. As for you..."

He didn't even notice Satoshi sneaking up behind him until it was too late. Satoshi hit him hard on the head with his bat.

"You'll pay for what you did to Satoko!" He screamed. His pink eyes were full of fear.

"Satoshi-kun, it's okay!" Shion exclaimed, coming towards the blond-haired boy.

"Leave me alone! I have to avenge Satoko's death!" He exclaimed. His eyes were full of rage and he moved in a frenetic manner.

BANG!

Satoshi swayed slightly, like a branch in the wind, and then fell over. Shion shrieked upon seeing her love topple over. "SATOSHI-KUN!" She exclaimed, and picked him up. "Satoshi-kun, don't go."

"Shion, you'll do fine. I'm going to go see Satoko." He muttered, his grip on her hands loosening. His eyes were about to close.

"No, Satoshi-kun...you can't go!" Shion screamed, tears falling down her face.

"Shion...I love-"

Satoshi went limp in her arms. Shion shook him. "Satoshi-kun? Satoshi-kun?"

There was no response. He was dead.

"!"

Shion screamed and fell to the ground, sobbing hysterically.

"Shii-chan, calm down!" Rena consoled, coming to her side and patting her. "It'll be over soon."

* * *

"Indeed. It will be over soon." A new voice uttered. A man dressed in a suit appeared. His eyes widened as he took in Lucy. "You are Lucy, correct?"

Lucy nodded stiffly. "Who the hell are you?" She asked warily.

"I know all about your vectors. I can tell you four that she's not an ordinary human. She's a very special being called...a diclonius. Diclonius have horns on their heads and can control invisible arms called vectors. They can use these to kill humans or other things. They seem to get sick easily. though if they use their powers too much." He said.

"Who are you?" Rena demanded, still holding her nata in front of her. "Why should we believe a thing you say?"

"Smart girl." The man said. "I'm Kakuzawa. I'm the leading expert on Dicloni. I'm here to take Lucy back to where she belongs."

"Belongs?" Kanae uttered. "Doesn't she have a house?"

"No, girl. You were taken from your mother, and put in an orphanage."

"That was hell. Where is my mother?" Lucy demanded imperiously.

Shion's fists tightened. "How could you separate her from her own mother? That's heartless."

"Dicloni are different from human children like you. Well, you're not human." He said, pointing to Rika, who flinched. He seemed to not notice Hanyuu's horns. "Normally, they kill their parents as soon as they are born, but you were different, Lucy. We put you in an orphanage so you could have interaction with normal children." Kakuzawa explained. Upon noticing Rena attempt to move near Kanae and Kota, he pulled out a pistol. "Move and I'll shoot." He said quietly.

Rena froze. Her gaze went from Hanyuu, who was shaking in fear, to Rika, who had an oddly serious look on her youthful face. She took in Satoko and Satoshi's dead bodies, and puked. "How could they...?" She muttered. An evil smile crossed her face. "You'll pay."

Another one of the Yamainu looked at her. "Make a move and these two die!" He screamed, holding the gun to Kota's head, who flinched. Kanae clawed at him.

"Rika, we have to run." Hanyuu whispered.

"Iie, Hanyuu. Fate has led us here. We're doomed to die again." Rika said dejectedly. Her purple eyes were full of unshed tears. "Look how far we've come since the days of _Onikakushi and Watanagashi. _Now, everyone is fighting as hard as they can. But it doesn't matter." She muttered.

"Rika, it does matter." Shion said, getting on her feet. She whipped out her taser. "You two murdered my friend and my boyfriend! I'll never forgive you!" She screamed.

"Shion, wait!" Hanyuu exclaimed. But it was too late. Shion was hit over the head and knocked out.

Kakuzawa pointed to a few more TOKYO people. "Get rid of her. She's a troublesome pest."

"But!" Rika exclaimed.

Rika decided to keep her mouth shut.

Kanae and Kota's eyes widened with horror upon seeing their friend being dragged away from them.

"You're really going...to kill them?" Kota uttered.

"Of course! They've seen too much! I'm going to kill all of you and take Lucy back with me! Beginning with you...you've been giving me odd stares." Kakuzawa said, and pulled the trigger on Rena. Rena blocked it with her nata.

"Nice aim." He praised. "Okonogi, do it."

The aforementioned man stood up and fired at Rena, which hit her in the shoulder. She fell. It was the perfect opportunity. "Time to get rid of you." He exclaimed, and pulled his gun in front of Rena's horrified eyes, and fired.

Rika closed her eyes. Hanyuu did as well.

Kota and Kanae screamed in terror.

"No! Rena-san!" Kanae yelped. She came charging at Okonogi and tackled him from behind, knocking his gun out of his hands. Then, she bit him hard on the arm. The latter screamed. "Come on, Oniichan! Let's go!" Kanae yelped.

She grabbed Kota. "Rika! Hanyuu! Let's go!"

"I cannot." Rika said. "Farewell."

"I won't let them get away!" Kakuzawa exclaimed.

"Try me." Lucy said.

"Hold her down." A new man said. "I'm Kurama." He said, and grabbed Lucy.

"Let go of me!" She exclaimed. "You disgusting human!"

"Now, let's finish what we started." Okonogi sneered, and grabbed Rika and Hanyuu.

He led them out to a clearing in the woods. Lucy was also dragged along, but she had a gag placed on over her mouth.

* * *

"Would you like me to drug you?" Okonogi asked.

Rika and Hanyuu shook their heads.

"Close your eyes, Lucy." Hanyuu advised. "We're their real targets."

Lucy started to snap at that moment. "No...my friends...don't leave."

"Not leaving. We'll be back." Rika said, smiling.

Lucy covered her eyes. She heard screaming, and then it all went black. The next thing she knew, she was running, as fast as she could.

She ran for several more years, until she came across a girl named Aiko. Aiko accepted her for who she was, but then she was discovered and gunned down. Aiko was taken to the hospital where she died.

As for Lucy...she was taken away and confined within a large cage. She awaited the day she could seek her revenge.

* * *

**9 years later...**

It was a beautiful day at the beach. A young girl with medium-length purple hair relaxed as she played in the water. "Onii-chan! Come join me!"

A boy with brilliant blue eyes shook his head at his teenage sister, who was now fourteen years old. "Sorry, Kanae. I'm too old for that sort of thing."

"Brother, you are not!" Kanae exclaimed, and threw sand at him.

"Hey, stop acting like you're five, Kanae!" Kota exclaimed.

"You're a meanie!" Kanae screamed, and stuck out her tongue at him.

"You two haven't changed." A girl with honey-brown hair and brown eyes commented. The two of them turned around to see a teenage girl walking towards them. "Kanae, Kota! How've you two been?"

"Hi, Yukaneesan! Kota is still an idiot!" Kanae announced.

"Survey says...yes. Hi, Kota! Remember me?"

When Kota shook his head, Yuka sighed. "I'm Yuka. Your cousin. Nine years ago, we met here and went to the festival with your friends and that redheaded girl...what _was _her name...it was so long ago." She muttered, wracking her brain.

"Lucy!" Kanae yelped.

"That's it! And those others-that blue-haired girl, Chika...the blond-haired one, Satoko, and those other teens...they were really nice." Yuka mused. "By the way, if we do meet Lucy again, tell her I have her dog. Kei-chan!" She whistled.

A huge brown dog came barreling through the door and tackled Kanae and Kota down in a bear hug. "Woof, woof!" He exclaimed.

"Whoa, whoa! Down, boy! Down!" Kota panicked as he tried to protect his face from the onslaught of the vicious dog's tongue.

"He likes you." Yuka said.

Kei-chan suddenly barked and started to run away from them, towards the shore.

"Hey, Kei-chan, where are you going?" Kanae asked, bounding towards the mutt.

"I think he found someone unconscious!" Yuka said.

"WHAT?" Kota cried.

"Yeah."

Sure enough, in front of them was a pink-haired girl with white horns on her head. She was naked...and unconscious. Kei-chan was sniffing her.

"Lucy?" Kanae uttered, and touched the girl, who awoke with a start.

She leapt back upon seeing Kanae. "Nyuu! Nyuu!" She exclaimed, and covered her hands with her face.

"Nyuu? Is that her name?" Kota asked. "How'd you get out here?"

Nyuu shrugged her shoulders. "Nyuu! Nyuu!" She cried.

"I think we have a brain-dead chick in our hands now." Yuka muttered.

* * *

"Mii..." A soft voice muttered.

A blue-haired girl stepped out from behind the bushes. "Perhaps...I could help you with that...nano desu."

Kanae recognized that voice. She turned around and was shocked to see Furude Rika standing there, _the same age as nine years ago. _She wasn't a ghost, but she was there.

"Rika?"


	14. Chapter 14 Repeat

**A/N:Now Rika-chan is back! Now, all the characters will come in! Mayu, and Nana will come in soon! I would appreciate more reviews for this story! **

**Chapter 14 Repeat**

* * *

Kanae stared at the ghost of the past who stood before her. Her friend looked exactly like she had back then. Her hair was still the same shade of blue it always had been, and her eyes were still an unfathomable shade of purple, reflecting the pain of the world and the cruelty of fate. Somehow, she thought that this girl was real, even though she had died so long ago. She rubbed her eyes.

Rika was still there, still smiling. Her innocent smile was on her face, almost as if she had remained blissfully unaware of time. "Mii...why are you looking at me like that? It's kinda scary." She said childishly.

"I thought you were...dead. You died. You were shot to death...in front of me." Kanae said.

"Who is she?" Kouta asked in confusion. Somehow, she seemed familiar...he just didn't know why. It was almost as if he'd met her from somewhere else before.

Nyuu stared at the blue-haired girl, who smiled. "I see you've grown up, Lucy." She said.

"Nyuu?" Nyuu said, staring at her. She didn't know who this girl was. Was she nice, or mean?

"I remember you from a long time ago, Lucy. But it seems...that you don't remember...me, or my friends." The bluenette said, turning to reveal a whole group of people behind her. Kanae's eyes widened as she took in the exact copies of her friends from so long ago.

"How are you guys still alive?" She exclaimed.

Mion looked at her apologetically. "It's a long story, which we'll explain in due time." She said, casting a look at Rika, who nodded. "Right, Hanyuu?"

"Hauu..." The purple-haired girl said, looking like she wanted very much to disappear. She seemed very shy, to Kouta. She seemed familiar. "I remember you. I'm Hanyuu."

"I remember you." Yuka said. "It's just this idiot that doesn't remember."

"Yeah, brother is an idiot!" Kanae yelled, kicking her brother in the shin.

"Hey, Kanae, don't fight in front of children!" Kouta scolded.

His sister scoffed. "Come now, Kota. I have matured since I was younger. If tousan were around, he'd think so, too." Upon seeing Kouta flinch, she bit her lip. "Hey...Onii-chan, these are our friends from a long time ago. That's Rika-chan, and Hanyuu-chan."

"I'm Satoko. Nice to meet you." The blond-haired girl uttered, smirking.

"I'm Keiichi Maebara." A brown-haired boy with purple eyes said, winking playfully at them.

"I'm Rena. Nice to see you again." Rena said, her astute blue eyes studying all of them. "Are you Lucy?"

"Nyuu!" Nyuu exclaimed, smiling. She backed away a little, afraid of the new intruders. She had no idea what was going on here.

"Nyuu is...Lucy, I think. I think she's got amnesia." Kanae deduced. "Judging from how she's acting...I'd say she doesn't remember any of us."

"Nyuu!"

"I'm Kanae. Can you say Kanae?" Kanae asked.

Nyuu only looked at her before saying, "Nyuu!"

Kouta sighed. "It looks like we'll have to teach Nyuu to talk, too. Let's go in the house." He stopped upon noticing Yuka wasn't budging. "Yuka?"

"I am _not_ going to have a whole harem of girls living with us." Yuka said sternly.

"Nipah, we're not interested in your boyfriend, nano desu. We only want to stay here for a while." Rika said.

"Yeah!" Mion uttered. "Be prepared for the Hinamizawa club! We don't show anyone any mercy!" She pumped a fist in the air for emphasis. She seemed very energetic and cheerful, Nyuu thought.

A voice resonated in Nyuu's head.

* * *

_"They're back. They kept their promise." _

_**Dare desu ka? **_

_You ought to know. _

_**Yoku wakarimasen. Watashi wa Nyuu. **_

_Ah, well. You'll know soon enough. _

* * *

Nyuu came back to reality upon seeing Ryuuguu Rena staring at her in interest. There was a gleam in her eyes. "Nyuu!" She squealed, and jumped back.

"Hauu...She is so...cute...OMOCHIKAERIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Rena squealed, picking up the naked Nyuu and running off with her.

"Did she just kidnap Nyuu?" Kouta said in disbelief, his mouth wide open. These people were very weird.

"I think she'll be back." Yuka said hesitantly. "At least, I hope so."

A few moments later, Rena returned, covered in sweat. "That was a heavy thing to take home. Not only that, she was naked!"

"We're aware of that." Satoko said, blushing and looking away from the aforementioned pinkette, who obviously had no idea what clothes were. "She's like an infant. Is she retarded?" She asked.

"Hauu...I don't think so. She's just new here, and nervous." Hanyuu said, but was startled when Nyuu went up and touched her horns. "Hauu..don't touch them." Her eyes widened upon seeing two white horns on Nyuu's head. "So...you are Lucy."

Yuka halted for a second. "I think she is, Kouta. Kanae may be right." She said, her honey brown eyes filled with worry. "But, why don't you remember me or them?" She asked.

Kota shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe we've only just met. I don't really remember you being my cousin." He admitted.

"Kouta? How is that possible?" Kanae asked.

"Who knows, nipahh? However, we ought to focus on more important things. It's starting to rain..." Rika trailed off. Sure enough, heavy gray drops were falling on their heads, and the sky was growing darker by every passing second.

* * *

The teenagers all headed inside, followed by Kei-chan and a confused Nyuu, whom Kouta led in. Nyuu was very curious about the house and spent much of her time flopping around the house and staring at everything, including the grandfather clock. She was even interested in an ugly family heirloom that no one liked, but hung in the main hallway, an old cuckoo clock.

Kanae stared at her in shock. "How is it that she can go around naked? Doesn't she care what other people think?" She exhorted. "Honestly, it's not like I'd want to go romping all over the house without clothes on, it's gross and perverted."

Hanyuu sighed. "Hauu...it's because of her amnesia. She doesn't know any better. That's all, so pity her. Maybe she's happier that way." Hanyuu muttered to herself, watching the nude pinkette sniffing a flower.

"It's rather...distracting." Keiichi murmured, trying hard to tear his eyes away from the naked girl. She wasn't too bad looking, though she had quite an unusual hair color, and eye color. It wasn't every day that he ran into someone with pink hair and red eyes. Then again...Mion had green hair and Rika and Hanyuu had blue and purple hair, and no one really raised an eyebrow at that.._.so maybe it was natural._ He noticed she had a nice set of-

WHACK! Keiichi now had a throbbing goose egg on his head.

"Kei-chan, are you paying attention, or are you too distracted?" Mion taunted, her green eyes full of jealousy and irritation. She seemed impatient with him. Maybe she actually liked him and was jealous of the fact that he was looking at a retarded girl with amnesia.

"I-I-I definitely was paying attention, I swear!" Keiichi replied. "It's not like my mind was elsewhere."

"Are you lying, Keiichi-kun?" Rena asked, her blue eyes full of interest. "I wonder..." Her voice was filled with amusement.

"I'm not..." He muttered. Somehow, he thought he saw another Rena in his mind and not the one he was looking at now. He thought he saw a tear stained Rena holding her arms out to him, surrounded by rain...muttering, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

* * *

"Are you okay?" A female voice snapped Keiichi out of his musings. He looked up to see the honey-eyed girl from before. She was quite cute. "You were spacing out. Do you perhaps want something to eat?"

"I suppose." Keiichi said, realizing he hadn't eaten anything for a while, and as such he was starving. "Anou...do you have any food at all?"

Nyuu smiled innocently. "Nyuu!" She exclaimed.

"Does Nyuu want to make food?" Satoko asked curiously. "I doubt she knows how."

"This is troublesome. If she can't talk, how do we know what she wants?" Kouta asked.

"Good question." Kanae uttered.

"I know!" Mion exclaimed, pushing her chair back. "This old man here can give you answers!"

"What old man?" Yuka asked dumbly.

"It's just what I call myself..." Mion trailed off, rubbing her green ponytail sheepishly. "Yosh! Let's get her some clothes!"

"Rena will make her so cute...then I will TAKE HER HOME!" Rena exclaimed, jumping on Nyuu again, despite the girl's protests. Clearly, Rena did not understand the meaning of when a recipient did not want to be abducted-er, _taken home_ by her,

Mion frowned at her disapprovingly. "Rena, you can take her home once she has some clothes on, unless you play for the other team. Then, that means...I can have Kei-chan!" She taunted.

Rena dropped Nyuu. "I'm sorry, Mii-chan! I'm definitely not gay, I like Keiichi-kun!" She snapped, and then everyone laughed. Rena's features softened upon seeing the looks of happiness on everyone else's faces. She remembered some of the last world, but it wasn't like she would tell anyone. Rika and Hanyuu weren't the only ones who knew that time was repeating, after all...

"Now, Nyuu! Let's get clothes for you!" Yuka exclaimed. "Just in case, Kouta, you're not allowed to dress Nyuu!"

"Why not?" Kouta asked innocuously, clearly oblivious to the girl's feelings. It was typical of his nature.

Yuka scowled yet again. "Kouta, I don't want you flirting with other girls! Remember, we were betrothed at an early age-"

She was silenced by a kick to the shin from Kanae. "Yeah, yeah. So, it's nice to promote incest. Especially since you two are cousins. Find someone who's not related." She lectured.

"Kanae-chan, that's not nice!" Yuka said.

"Mii...you haven't changed at all. You were the same back then." Rika muttered, her voice deepening.

* * *

"Rika..." Hanyuu uttered, casting a worried stare at her. Rika was not usually so sad when tragedy struck her inside each world they went to. Yet now she was too attached to these people, and that might prevent her from moving on if they went to the next world where Kanae, Kota, Yuka, and even Lucy didn't exist. She wanted things to be happy for Rika's sake, but she also didn't want to see Rika get disappointed at all. "Hope betrayed you last time, Rika. When will you learn that you can't change fate?" She whispered.

"Effort...will eventually get you somewhere, you know. I really thought you'd know that about me by now...after all we've been through. We've made so much progress...you know." Rika said, smiling sadly at Hanyuu and walking towards her friends.

Hanyuu grimaced sadly. "I only wish it were that simple, Rika."


	15. Chapter 15 The hunt for Lucy

**A/N:Okay, the reason why Satoshi disappeared again will be explained here. I know I've become slow on updating this fanfic, but I will do my best to be consistent! Now, I believe it will follow canon in some aspects (i.e. psycho Lucy/innocent Nyuu, Mayu showing up, etc,) but in other aspects it will not, such as Kanae living and not dying as a young child, Lucy's puppy living, have already been shown. **

**Any requests for pairings would be accepted, though I have to turn down any yaoi or yuri pairings, as I'm not a fan of that sort of thing. **

**Chapter 15 The Hunt for Lucy**

* * *

Professor Kurama frowned as he studied the data on his laptop. There had still been no signs of the diclonius who had just escaped their lab, and that was neither a good thing or a bad thing. Even though she had been shot in the head by an expert sniper and marksman who told him that he knew exactly what he was doing, what if she had survived? What then? Should he really risk allowing a dangerous creature like Lucy to roam free in the streets and kill as many people as she wanted?

Of course not. That was a preposterous notion that Kurama discarded as soon as it came to his head. While the diclonius were certainly not human, innocent people had to be kept out of this. Lucy had just killed his secretary, Kisaragi. The poor naive girl had had no idea what was going on and had gotten caught up in the attempt to capture her. Then she was beheaded in front of Kurama's eyes. He missed her deeply, and considered her a close associate.

Her cheery disposition and sunny attitude had really brought hope and warmth to his life, especially considering the work he had to do on a daily basis. Protecting humanity from evil creatures with telepathic powers could become _very exhausting. _Still, it was worth it in the end, he thought, as he sipped a cup of coffee he had just brewed. At least he got free coffee. That was a plus in his book.

He scanned over the data again, which brought up a picture of said diclonius. In fact, there were several pictures of her, all taken at different times. There was one which showed her in the local orphanage they had sent her to when her mother had been killed. Her mother had been very reluctant to give up her daughter, but when they assured her she would be taken care of, she had relented. She was there, in the rows of children the orphanage took care of. Beside her was a girl with brown hair tied back in pigtails. Her bright brown eyes were full of happiness.

Then there was a boy with blue hair and eyes who had a cocky smirk on his face as he eyed the camera. Kurama felt a slight shiver go through him, almost as if the boy could see him trembling. He shook the feeling off, and then flipped to another image, which showed the murders of the children at the orphanage. It had been a horrible accident, after all. One boy was horribly murdered by a suspect who cut him into pieces with an ax, and then buried in the ground. The other two had been found dead in different locations. One boy had, by the looks of it, been stabbed to death, judging by the wounds found on his chest, while the other seemed to have been drowned.

And the girl...she had been reported missing shortly after the incident. No one had ever found any traces of the brown-haired girl, and the case went cold for years. The culprit he suspected of committing these crimes was none other than Lucy. The fact that she could brutally murder innocent children in cold blood horrified him, but then again she wasn't human. No human could ever act that horrid, after all. Also, Lucy had been reported missing for years...

"Wait a second..." His eyes widened as he flipped back to a picture he had almost overlooked. It showed a room at the orphanage, with the suspect as a young girl. There were other children with her; a girl with long blue hair and purple eyes, and a blonde with fuchsia eyes. The two children were completely unknown to him. He hadn't seen them in the pictures, so who exactly were they? It wasn't like he could go and ask the directors of the orphanage, since they had perished in a mysterious fire four or five years ago.

He cupped his chin in thought. Who were those two children who looked so happy being around a known killer? He had to find out, and he found a bad feeling was growing in his chest more and more. If he had to guess, he felt that Lucy was still alive, and hiding somewhere. The objective was simple: she had to be located and captured again. But who could possibly do that?

A smirk crossed his face as he pictured the perfect victim. She was naive and gullible, so she would obey any orders he gave her, even orders to kill a member of her own species...right? His fingers drifted over to his phone.

"...Hello? Yes, it's me. I would like to assign Diclonius Number Seven to a mission. The capture of the missing diclonius."

Lucy would never know what hit her. This might just be a good test for her-after all, would she really feel compelled to murder her own kind?

* * *

Outside, the sky was overcast with dreary gray clouds, and the air smelled even more of rain. The morning was full of rain, that filled the whole world with a sense of dread and hopelessness. It was like a cloud of depression that happened to have a physical form and could descend down at any moment.

At any rate, the residents of Maple Inn were stuck indoors for the day, much to a certain pinkette's frustration. So they all had to do things indoors, even little Rika and Hanyuu had to help out. After all, they were guests, so they might as well help by cleaning the place up a bit.

Nyuu sighed at the table. She was sitting in front of a plate of sandwiches that were placed in front of her nose. She turned away in disgust, not really wishing to eat now. "Nyuu!" She huffed, folding her arms together.

"Are you trying to say no? But I made those myself!" Kanae protested. "Come on, my cooking's not that bad, is it?" She whined, casting anxious glances at the other occupants in the room, as if desiring assent by everyone who even lived or breathed in the place.

Kouta flashed a nervous smile her way, while Yuka just sighed. Both of them knew Kanae loved to cook, but she wasn't very good at it. However, this was not something they wished to tell their beloved sibling, because then she would lose her temper, and angering Kanae was not something they wanted to have happen. Then, she would throw a tantrum, and use _anything _at all to throw around-whether it be a precious Ming vase, the family dog, or even flowers, it didn't matter.

Rika stood close to Nyuu, staring worriedly at her. "See, these aren't bad. Watch, I'll eat them and then you...do." She advised, picking up a sandwich and putting it in her mouth. Nyuu watched with fascinated eyes as she chewed before swallowing. "Go ahead, and you try."

Nyuu stared at her a few times before nodding eagerly. Then, she put one of them in her mouth...and continued to wolf everything on the plate down. Hanyuu watched on in disbelief.

"Hauu...I didn't think she would eat _this much._ Right, Rika?" Hanyuu asked. There was a worried look in her eyes as she studied the pinkette. There had been a strange feeling she had gotten when she had first seen Lucy again. It was almost like this was a different person she was looking at-somehow she was reminded of how gentle her friends could be, and then how fate could twist them into entirely different and insane people.

Nyuu had crumbs on her face, but still beamed happily. "NYUU!" She exclaimed.

"Want some milk?" Satoko offered, setting down a glass effortlessly in front of her. "It's not that bad. Just don't try pumpkin. That sucks." She joked.

* * *

Shion fumed inwardly upon hearing that comment. She had to take care of Satoko for Satoshi, after all-so she had to eat pumpkin, whether the little brat wanted to or not.

"Shion, don't blow your top." Mion offered, smiling consolingly at her. "It's a silly thing to get upset over. She'll come around eventually."

Shion stared at her twin before breaking out into a grin. "Okay, onee. I understand."

Nyuu set down the empty glass of milk, but she now had a milk mustache painted onto her lips.

"Hauuu...she is soooo...KAWAIIII! OMOCHIKAERI, NYUU-CHAN!" A high voice screamed, and a few seconds later, Nyuu found herself being abducted by Rena Ryuuguu. For the thirtieth time that week. Rena had never been able to keep her hands off of Nyuu for long. She had never met anyone so cute.

"Hey, someone stop her!" Mion urged, but Yuka just shrugged her shoulders.

"That's how she is. She'll give up sooner or later." She responded nonchalantly, as though girls going and kidnapping their friend was a daily occurrence. Well, in this case...it _was. _

"Nipah-this dog is so cute!" Rika uttered, petting the obedient dog, who then thanked her by licking her on the cheek. Rika blushed.

Rena stopped and dropped Nyuu, suddenly curious by this new turn of events. She automatically decided to switch targets from Nyuu-to Rika. "OMOCHIKAERI! RIKA-CHAN IS TOO KAWAIII!"

Rika reluctantly gave in and allowed Rena to kidnap her. At least she was not being disemboweled-yet. She could hear Keiichi and the others, including Kanae, Kouta, and Yuka laughing. She smiled to herself. Maybe now she could make a happy ending for herself and for all of her friends.

Hanyuu seemed to read her mind, and sighed. "Don't get your hopes up, Rika. You know full well-"

* * *

Suddenly, there was a rap on their door, and Kouta got up to get it. He opened the door to see two policemen standing outside the door. "Hello?"

Kanae strode in behind him, also curious about the mysterious guests. "Who are they, Onii-chan?"

"Hello, there, Sir. Could you assist us with something?"

"What exactly?" Mion questioned, coming over as well. She had a bad feeling about these men somehow, and thought that they radiated some kind of evil. She had some kind of ESP, she thought jokingly, and sweat dropped mentally.

Rena's eyes narrowed. "Hide Nyuu." She hissed in Satoko's ear, who looked at her in surprise.

"Why would I-"

"Those men...are looking for Nyuu. Why else would they stop by our door? I've seen a few people prowling around late at night, and Kei-chan has been barking constantly in the middle of the night. My theory is, Nyuu is somehow dangerous, and they want to capture her." Rena deduced.

Rika's eyes widened. "Close the door, Rena. Now." She hissed. Rena nodded, and the four of them slammed the door shut with as much force as they could muster. "Get her in the basement and hide her there." She commanded.

* * *

Hanyuu and Rena took a confused Nyuu downstairs, despite her protests, and hid her in a small room. "I'll stay here with her." Hanyuu reassured Rika.

"But what if-" Rika asked, but Hanyuu silenced her with a glare.

"I assure you, her vectors are dormant. Remember, they won't hurt me." Hanyuu said, smiling.

"Okay." Rika said, smiling. Then, she heard the sounds of barking and an argument upstairs.

Rena and Satoko raced back up the stairs, while Rika stayed downstairs to guard Nyuu. What they saw shocked them.

* * *

Kouta was arguing with the man, while Kanae was trying to hit the other one with a broom. Both of them seemed very stressed. Behind them was Mion, who was trying to negotiate. Rena smiled, if anyone was good at winning people over, it was her.

"...Like I told you before, we haven't seen a pink-haired girl around here! Go back to watching your anime or something! You've obviously fallen in love with a pink-haired kunoichi and want to stalk a cosplayer, right?" Kanae snapped. "Now get lost!"

"You arrogant twerp! I know you're hiding her!" The other man replied, cocking a gun at her head.

Mion's eyes narrowed. "Put the gun down." She warned.

"Why should I?" He protested.

WHAM!

The police officer was down after a few kicks from Mion. Kouta watched on in disbelief.

"We know you're hiding her! We'll find out someday!" The other one cried, and they both fled.

Suddenly, Kei-chan took off after them.

"Wait, Kei-chan!" Mion exclaimed.

"Which Kei-chan are you referring to?" Keiichi joked.

"The dog, you idiot! Help me find him!" Mion snapped, and ran out of the house, Keiichi following behind her, albeit warily.

"Hey! Where's everyone going? I was about to make dinner!" Yuka cried, already following instructions to make a recipe, but sighed. "Kouta, Kanae, what's going on with them?"

"Kei-chan ran off after these strange men who came to our door, and I think they want Nyuu! Maebara-san and Sonozaki-san chased after him, but I'm worried." Kanae explained.

"All right. Where are Ryuuguu-san, _Shion _Sonozaki-san, Nyuu, Hojo-san, and Furude Rika and Hanyuu-chan?"

"Mii...we're all downstairs." Rika cried, opening the door to reveal Shion, Hanyuu, Satoko, and Nyuu behind them. "We were hiding from the scary men."

Yuka didn't even notice the taser Shion had on her, or the shiny machete Rena held behind her back. "There's no need to worry about it."

"Where's Mion and Keiichi?" Rika asked seriously.

"They went after the dog!" Rena exclaimed. "Come! We have to find them!"

* * *

The rain pounded hard on the beach, drenching all that it fell onto. However, the girl in the rain had found a nice hiding spot that would keep her and her furry companion safe from the onslaught. Her black hair fell in her face as she sat in the rain, her head down over the little yellow puppy who sat in her lap.

"Oh, Wanta...I'm so hungry..." She moaned. "How much longer is this rain going to last?"

The dog only yipped, then he perked his ears up upon hearing a distant bark. He jumped off her lap and started to bark hysterically.

"What is it, Wanta?" She asked. "Oh, you hear a dog? Has someone found us?"

Wanta just stared at her like she was stupid, then started barking excitedly.

"Shhhh...I don't want to be found." The girl; Mayu, uttered, placing a finger over the pup's lips.

Wanta whined softly.

* * *

"Mion! I think he's over here!" Keiichi exclaimed, panting.

"Kei-chan, you are too slow!" Mion taunted.

Her eyes widened as she spotted a young girl dressed in a pretty black dress, with a purple ribbon atop her head. Her hair was short and pink, and her eyes were a brilliant crimson. She was petting Kei-chan, and laughing.

"Kei-chan!" She called. The dog lifted his head up and took off towards them. The new girl sat up, her red eyes blinking in confusion.

"Oh, you must be this dog's owner! It's so friendly! I just thought I'd say hi to it for a bit!"

"Not exactly. It's our friends." Mion lied.

"I'm headed somewhere important right now. My papa wants me to complete it. Can you tell me...?"

"Tell you...what?" Keiichi asked.

"Where I could find a girl named Lucy."


	16. Chapter 16 Nana and Rika

**A/N:**_**Did you honestly think that I abandoned this story? If so, you are definitely wrong. Lucy and Rika both came to my house at 3:00 in the morning and floated over my bed, and tried to strangle me, unless I would write the next chapter of this story. Therefore, I have chosen to wisely proceed according to their wishes and would like to feature Nana in this one. **_

* * *

_**Chapter 16 Nana and Rika **_

* * *

"Lucy? Who's that?" Keiichi replied cluelessly. He had no inkling at all who this girl was, or who this person she was looking for was. Did she honestly expect him to have met her before or something? He searched through his mind. That wasn't a Japanese name, so he decided that whoever this "Lucy" girl was, she might just be a foreigner or someone who had come here on a trip.

"Is this Lucy person your mother? Are you lost?" Mion asked gently, staring at the pinkette with a kind look in her eyes. The pinkette blushed and looked away. It was evidence enough to show to Mion that this girl was hiding something. She had had prior experience with people keeping secrets, after all...like Kei-chan, Rena-chan, and even Rika-chan. All three of them kept their true feelings locked up deep inside and kept on a happy face, even when they truly didn't feel that way.

The red-eyed girl shook her head. "No, that's not it. She's a...friend. Yeah, she's a friend of mine that went missing, so Papa asked me to find her. Actually...she's my older sister. I miss her dearly."

Mion raised an eyebrow at the girl's horrible acting. One second ago, she had insisted that it was a friend of hers who had gone missing, and now she said it was an older sister? She had suspicions about this strange girl, and wondered if she was looking for Nyuu. Her green eyes narrowed. Did that mean that Nyuu was some kind of runaway or missing person? Was this girl truly related to Nyuu? Because they did look alike, but there was something not right here.

Keiichi seemed to not have caught on to the girl's horrible acting. He was still laughing and talking to her like she was an ordinary person, even though Mion knew that this girl was hiding something. "Kei-chan, let's head home now." Mion responded quickly, grabbing her secret crush by the arm and hauling him away from the suspicious girl.

"Wait! Can you please help me? I have to find her!" The girl pleaded, her red eyes filled with desperation. "I need to find Lucy now! Papa wanted me to find her, because it's an important mission-" But then she put her hand over her mouth as she realized she had said too much.

"Mission?" Keiichi asked, now becoming suspicious of this strange girl.

Suddenly, two familiar figures darted up towards them. Rika and Kanae! Kanae ran up to them both and stared at them for a few moments. "Who is she, Maebara-san?"

Rika eyed the strange girl for a few moments. She looked a lot like Lucy did, but she seemed more kind and friendly. Still, she was reminded of Rena for a few moments, oddly enough...a kind side, concealing a heartless soul capable of untold horrors if provoked.

"Who are you guys? Are you all friends?" The girl asked. "I'm looking for Lucy."

Rika flinched. "I don't know anyone by that name, mii...I'm afraid you're asking the wrong person, sir..." She replied quietly.

Nana flinched at the darker tone in the younger girl's voice. It was almost like the girl knew something, but deliberately chose to hide it. How dare she hide things from Nana! That made her a little irritated, but Nana decided to choose mercy over murder. This girl was not her species, and she was not ordered to murder her, so she would spare her..._for now_, anyway.

"Mii...Who are you, onee-san?" Rika uttered, staring at her seriously.

Nana winced again upon seeing the girl's cold eyes. There was something she was trying to tell her. It was as if the girl was precocious for her age, or something crazy like that. There was no way that this sweet, kind girl was one of her kind-most of them had pink hair and red eyes. Nor did it look like the teenaged girl was really one of them either-judging from her purple hair and eyes.

"I-I'm Nana. I'm just looking for a girl named Lucy, like I said before."

Kanae frowned at her and examined her from head to toe. "Hmm...you do look a LOT like Lucy...maybe you two are long-lost twin sisters."

Rika, Keiichi, and Mion all gaped at the fact that Kanae had just leaked out the fact that they knew Lucy personally and were hiding her from would-be enemies.

"Damn it, Kanae..." Mion muttered under her breath.

Keiichi shot Kanae an evil glare, which caused the purple-haired girl to flinch. "Hey, Kanae! You stupid idiot! Thanks to you, she now knows that Lucy is-"

Mion quickly silenced him by smacking him hard on the head.

Nana grinned. "So, you guys _do _know Lucy. Where is she?" She asked kindly, though still with a wary look. She didn't know whether or not these kids were dangerous. She should be on her guard, that was what her Papa had told her. All she had to do was bring back Lucy, right? She wasn't supposed to kill anyone or take anyone hostage.

* * *

Kanae stared at everyone around her in visible shock and stunned silence. "I-I didn't mean to let it slip, you know...it just...did." She remarked. Suddenly, Rika was reminded of that brown-haired brat who had tattled on Lucy about her puppy and had nearly gotten her dog killed. She remembered that vividly, and Hanyuu did as well, but the others didn't. As usual, she and Hanyuu alone only remembered the events of each world.

It was something she had grown accustomed to have happen in every single world, as she had long accepted this as something that never changed. Even though she had gone to a different world twice, it would still be the same. However, the people of this world DID remember the events that took place in the last world. That was something that differed from the other worlds. Rika had no idea how on earth that was possible.

"If you guys won't answer me nicely, I'll have to force it out of you." Nana said, and suddenly she unleashed her vectors at Rika, who flinched as Kanae darted in front of her, taking the blow for her.

"It's all right, Rika. They didn't hurt me at all. I get the feeling that this girl really doesn't want to hurt us and is just being intimidating in order to get what she wants. Am I right?" Kanae deduced sharply, before staring the girl down.

"H-How did you...?" Nana said, her eyes wide in terror. Were these girls psychics or something? Something was not right here, and she had to figure out what it was.

Rika thought of a plan suddenly. "Let's go back to the house." She whispered in Mion's ear. "Let's mislead her by going in different directions."

Rika ran off to the right while Kanae ran straight down to the beach. Mion and Keiichi raced back into town and headed to the west, toward a bakery of some sort. They had been there a little while ago and had gotten some bread from the nice merchant there and wanted to visit her again, just to chat for a while.

Nana blinked in confusion for a few moments. "No fair! Is this some kind of trick? Fine, I'll go after the blue-haired girl!"

She immediately sprinted down the steps until she found herself on the beach. It was a nice day and the waves were breaking on the bay. She stared at the sun setting and was mesmerized for a few moments. Never before had she seen something so beautiful. It was the first time in her life that she had been out of the institute, after all. So naturally, she would be stunned by something so unnatural to her.

"It's so pretty...does this happen all the time out here?" She asked in wonder.

"Of course it does..." A new voice said timidly. She jumped in surprise and her eyes widened upon seeing a small girl staring at her. She appeared to be around thirteen or fourteen at the most. Her hair was short and black while her eyes were a gentle brown in color. She seemed timid and quiet.

"Who are you? Have you seen a girl with purple hair and eyes? Did she come running down here at all?" Nana demanded, but the girl just winced in fear at how loud she was being and backed away.

"Don't hurt me..." She whimpered.

"I wasn't going to hurt you. You're not the one I'm looking for, so why would I have any intention of hurting you? Besides, the person I'm trying to find will be taken back gently. I don't plan on hurting her at all." Nana explained vaguely. Her papa had told her to not be specific as to what she was doing so that way she wouldn't get caught.

"Eh, no, I haven't seen anyone running past here except for a girl with blue hair. It was the strangest thing. I've never seen anyone with blue hair before. Do you think she dyed it?" Mayu asked in curiosity. Nana hit her forehead.

"No...that was probably a girl who I'm looking for. They all ran away when I tried to get some information out of them." Nana explained vaguely.

"Oh...well, I was just hanging out here with my friend Wanta. We're both runaways, you see...and I was wondering if there was a place we could stay at for the night." Mayu replied, not looking up from her view of the ground.

"I'm sorry...I don't know of anywhere where you could stay." Nana said. "However...do you think you could help me?"

* * *

Yuka was the first one who greeted Kanae as she came flying in the house, with Rika right behind her. Both of them were panting heavily and they seemed very exhausted. "What on _earth _were you two doing? Where is everyone else? I swear, you guys didn't need to make such a fuss over those policemen. They only asked me a few questions, and I just said that I didn't know who they were talking about and slammed the door in their face."

Everyone shivered all of a sudden. "Is it just me, or is she even more terrifying than Rena?" Rika asked.

"Rena is terrifying...oh, yeah, I remember. That time where she tried to hurt me? She was scary!" Kanae exclaimed. Yuka just stared at her before she burst out laughing.

"Oh, Rena? She would never hurt anyone! She's just obsessed with taking things home, especially Nyuu!" Yuka said between laughs.

Both of them raised skeptical eyebrows upon seeing her reaction. "But it's true! I never lied!" Kanae cried, but Rika shook her head.

"No one will believe you, even if you tell them the truth. That's how it is, you see. People tend to close their eyes to the truth, so when you reveal it to them, they can't stand it and reject you." Rika explained sadly.

"You're wrong! That's not how it is and you know it! People are wonderful!" Kanae exclaimed naively.

"You're just too naive, Kanae. You're also too trusting. That in itself will become a double-edged sword."

* * *

Kurama frowned at the results he had gotten from Professor Kakuzawa. "Are you _sure_ that you saw her near this school?"

"Affirmative. She was naked and lying on the beach. Two people found her. We sent out two police officers, but so far they turned up nothing conclusive." He said. He didn't want to tell him the TRUTH, which was that HE had been the one who had set off the alarm.

_One day...diclonius will rule the earth, Kurama._


End file.
